Israeli army says looking into death of 'foreign national' in West Bank

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said Friday it is investigating reports of the death of a foreign national in the village of Beita, in northern West Bank.

In a brief statement, the Israeli military said it is “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area.”

“The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” it added, without disclosing her nationality.

Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was fatally shot by the Israeli army during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita, near Nablus city.

Fouad Nafaa, the director of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, told Anadolu that Eygi arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. She succumbed to her injuries despite attempts by medical teams to revive her, according to Nafaa.

Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli soldiers opened live fire on a group of Palestinians participating in a demonstration condemning the illegal settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, which lies south of the city of Nablus.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed that the victim was a volunteer with the Fazaa campaign, an initiative aimed at supporting and protecting Palestinian farmers from ongoing violations by illegal Israeli settlers and the military.

Residents of Beita hold weekly protests after Friday prayers to oppose the illegal Israeli settlement of Avitar, which sits on the peak of Mount Sbeih. The community demands the removal of the settlement, which they view as a violation of their land rights.

Eygi was born in the Turkish city of Antalya in 1998.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio