The shot by an Israeli soldier that hit Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the head left no chance for doctors at the hospital in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, to bring her back to life. The 26-year-old woman, an American national but originally from Turkey, where she also had nationality, according to Ankara, had come to participate with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) association on Friday, September 6, in a movement in support of a group of Palestinians fighting against the confiscation of their land near Beita, south of the city of Nablus.
A protest demonstration is held there every week on Fridays, and is centered around prayers, with the support of Israeli anti-settlement activists, and sometimes with the support of foreigners. This demonstration is taking place not far from a settlement, Evyatar, a former illegal “outpost” located on a nearby hill, which was indirectly legalized in July by the Israeli authorities when they declared that this area ” apartment[enait] to the State »thereby depriving Palestinian property owners of their rights.
“After the prayer ended, small scuffles broke out, which led the army to fire live ammunition,” says Abdul Rahman Kabeisah, a Palestinian protester who was present at the scene. “Initially, the army fired a large number of [cartouches de] tear gas, before starting to shoot live ammunition,” details a note compiled by ISM activists that evening. The text claims that two shots hit people present. The first wounded a Palestinian in the leg. The second hit Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the head.
A Continuity of Violence
The latter was standing, according to testimonies from other members of the organization, under an olive tree, not far from where their demonstration of support had taken place, when she was hit. Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli activist long involved with Palestinians in the West Bank, was nearby. In a recording posted on Instagram, his hands still covered in blood, he describes how he tried to give her first aid and take her pulse, which was already very weak.
Mr Pollak told the American daily The Washington Post that the demonstration was over when the gunfire, including that which hit Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, broke out. In a statement, the Israeli army said that a unit operating near Beita had “responded with shots fired at the main instigator of the violence who had thrown stones at [les soldats] and posed a threat to them”.
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