Israel believes its forces probably shot an American activist

The Israeli Embassy urged Israel to act swiftly in investigating a fatal shooting of an American woman during a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank

The State Department on Monday urged Israel to move quickly to investigate the fatal shooting of an American woman during a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank last week. Eyewitnesses said she was shot in the head by Israeli forces policing the protest. Israeli authorities have said they are investigating the incident.

Before the demonstration began, Eygi joined prayers on top of the hill overlooking the Evyatar outpost, along with the Palestinians from the local communities, as ISM activists told NPR.

Under Israeli law, unauthorized outposts are illegal, even if the international community considers them to be a violation of international law. But in July, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — himself an ultranationalist settler — legalized Evyatar and several other outposts.

An Israeli State Department spokesman in Nablus told reporters: “I know an Israeli soldier is coming to the bottom of the hill,” Eygi’s family said

The US State Department spokesman told reporters on Monday that Israel had promised to share its findings with the US first. “We expect that to happen as swiftly as possible. We expect that process to be thorough. We expect that process to be transparent,” Patel said.

Eygi’s family said in a statement Friday they want an independent investigation to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties.

“They pushed us to the bottom of the hill, basically. The army, at this point, had been throwing tear gas. She said they had fired some live rounds.

The witnesses said there were some clashes and rock-throwing. Activist Jay Harrison hid behind a dumpster and started to run when a shot hit his cover. He said that’s when he heard another shot about 15 feet away. “I saw someone crumble and fall backward,” he said. He recognized it was Eygi. She was very weak and he ran to take her pulse.

An ambulance took Eygi to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, the main city in the northern West Bank, where she was shortly pronounced dead. The hospital head said that she had dilated pupils and no heartbeat when she arrived. She wasn’t breathing, and parts of her brain had spilled out. He said doctors performed six cycles of CPR but couldn’t save her.

Israeli Security Forces in the West Bank: The Case for a Slain American ISM Student, Eygi and Blinken

The other activist, Chen, claimed it was a deliberate shot. “It was not like hundreds of bullets flying in the air and she got struck by accident,” Chen said. “She was just moving down the hill, and then she was standing next to an olive tree.”

Israeli military raids and settler violence have risen since Oct. 7, including a major Israeli army raid on Jenin and two other towns in the northern occupied West Bank in recent weeks. Altogether, the attacks have killed more than 650 Palestinians, according to the United Nations.

The ISM says at least three of its activists have been killed since 2000. Rachel Coombs was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 she was American ISM activist.

I am absolutely devastated. The whole community is,” Aria Fani, Eygi’s former translation studies teacher, told The Seattle Times. Eygi was one of the smartest students that he had ever taught.

The Associated Press reported that the Palestinian Authority held a funeral procession Monday for Eygi in the West Bank city of Nablus, but Turkey wants the body transferred there for burial.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it was highly likely that a slain American activist was “unintentionally” struck by Israeli gunfire last week at a protest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the killing was “not acceptable.”

He said at a news conference that “Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes to the way they operate in the West Bank.”

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