Turkish-American peace activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was peacefully standing in an olive grove in the occupied West Bank, a land where generations of Palestinians have sown their blood and tears into the earth, when she was shot by an Israeli sniper.
She was in Beita, Nablus, to protest illegal Israeli settlements in the town.
Jonathan Pollack, another activist who was with her on Saturday, recalled hearing two separate shots of live ammunition. The first shot hit a metal object before striking a young man from the village on the thigh. After the second shot, cries for help rang out.
"I ran backwards into the olive groves and found her lying on the ground beneath an olive tree, bleeding to death," he recounted.
Eygi's autopsy confirmed that she was killed by a sniper's bullet to the head, according to the governor of Nablus.
Her family, in a statement, said her life was "needlessly, unlawfully, and violently taken by the Israeli military," expressing their "shock and grief."
She had recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures.
Solidarity with Palestinian civilians
Her loved ones described Eygi as someone who felt a "deep responsibility to serve others and lived a life of caring for those in need through action. She was a fiercely passionate human rights activist her whole life."
Eygi was active on campus, participating in student-led protests advocating for human dignity and an end to the violence against the people of Palestine.
"Aysenur felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure ongoing repression and violence," her family said.
Despite the known dangers of travelling to the occupied territory, Eygi was determined to show her support for the Palestinian cause. She arrived in the West Bank on Tuesday to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) as part of an effort to support and safeguard Palestinian farmers.
Eygi was born in Antalya, Türkiye, in 1998. She was killed at just 26 years old.
She was "strong, beautiful, and nourishing" like the "olive tree she lay beneath where she took her last breaths," her family said.
Calling for accountability
The US State Department confirmed the killing of the volunteer peace activist with the Palestinian-led anti-occupation group ISM and said it was gathering more information about the circumstances of her death.
Eygi's family urged the Biden administration for an independent investigation into her killing.
"We welcome the White House's statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur's killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate," the family said in a statement, calling for "full accountability for the guilty parties."
The Israeli military acknowledged the firing, but claimed its forces were responding to "violent activity." Eyewitnesses tell a different story.
Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers opened live fire on a group participating in a demonstration, condemning the illegal settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, south of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank.
They said Eygi was standing away from the main protest area when she was fatally shot. Despite being rushed to a nearby hospital, medical workers were unable to save her.
ISM said Eygi was "deliberately targeted" by the Israeli sniper, citing testimony from eyewitness Mariam Dag (a pseudonym), who is also a volunteer with the group.
Jonathan Pollack, another eyewitness to the murder and an Israeli activist who has participated in protests against the illegal settlements, said the soldier who shot Eygi "had a clear line of sight to her."
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Eygi's killing is "a direct outcome of the implementation of the instructions" of Israeli politicians to kill Palestinians and solidarity activists.
The ministry held the Israeli government fully responsible for the crime which confirmed its predetermined plans to escalate the situation to cover its colonial projects across the occupied territories.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry described Eygi’s death as a "murder" committed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
