American woman killed at protest in West Bank

An American woman was fatally shot at a protest against settlement expansion in Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the State Department confirmed. Witnesses said that Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot in the head by Israeli forces. Eygi, a dual US-Turkish national, was in the West Bank with the pro-Palestinian activist group International Solidarity Movement.

The IDF said it was “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area,” adding that the "details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review."

The fatal incident comes at a rocky moment in US-Israel relations, with the Biden administration at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his approach to the war in Gaza and support for settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, among other issues.

The tragic news came hours after Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin and its refugee camp, a militant stronghold, following a nine-day operation there.

We’ll be watching to see how Eygi’s killing impacts the already tense dynamic between the White House and the Jewish state.

The White House in a statement said it was “deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen,” adding that it’s reached out to the Israeli government “to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident.”