A 26-year-old American woman was fatally shot Friday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where witnesses said she was taking part in a protest against a settlement outpost when Israeli forces opened fire.
And in a separate incident in a town a few miles away, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead as she watched from a window as Israeli settlers and soldiers clashed violently with Palestinians, according to the town’s mayor.
Under the leadership of Hamas, Oct. Their deaths add to the rising tide of violence in the West Bank since the attack on Israel on the 7th fueled the war in Gaza. According to the United Nations, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 600 people in the West Bank, the highest toll in years; Many of those killed were claimed as members of terrorist groups, but others appeared to be civilians.
In Friday’s shooting, witnesses and Palestinian officials said Israeli soldiers opened fire that killed Aysenur Ezgi Igi, a dual citizen of the United States and Turkey, and Bana Laboom, a Palestinian girl. The Israeli military acknowledged that its soldiers fired in close proximity to both incidents but said it was still investigating them.
Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken called Ms. Iggy’s death a “tragic loss” and offered condolences to her family. He added that “the most important thing is to collect the facts.”
“First things first, let’s find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that,” Mr. Blinken told reporters at a news conference during a visit to the Dominican Republic.
President Biden, who arrived in Michigan on Air Force One, responded to shouted questions from reporters about Ms. Iggy’s death, saying he had finished a call with his team to discuss the situation and would have more information later.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said Ms Igi was also a Turkish citizen. Unlike the United States, Turkey directly blamed the Israeli government for his assassination. News of her death was widely condemned in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in A post On social media, Ms. Iggy condemned what she called “barbaric Israeli intervention” against the demonstrations she was participating in.
Ms. Iggy, who came to the United States as an infant and lives in Seattle, recently came to Israel to join activists affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement, who demonstrate alongside Palestinians in the West Bank.
On Friday, she joined a rally in Beta, where residents have been protesting for years — sometimes violently — against a colonial outpost on lands claimed by the village. The Israeli government recently said it would legalize the outpost.
By 2:35 p.m., she was dead, a bullet wound to the head, at Nablus’ Rafidia Hospital, said hospital director Fouad Nafia.
“She didn’t stand next to anything. There was nothing going on,” said Jonathan Pollack, a hard-left Israeli activist who said he was about 50 feet from Ms. Agee. “And they shot her in the head.”
Demonstrations around Beita began before the current war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli settlers occupied a nearby hilltop in 2021, erecting an outpost known as Ivyatar on land claimed by the village. This led to months of deadly protests in which several Beta residents were killed and scores injured.
The outpost was illegal under Israeli law when it was established, lacking Israeli government authorization. But in June, Israel’s cabinet agreed Retroactively legitimizes five such outposts, including IvyatarFollowing the demands of Israeli finance minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich.
Most of the world considers all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law, which Israel disputes. About 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory, along with about three million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military occupation.
On Friday, the Israeli military said soldiers “returned fire towards the main instigator of violent activity” who threw stones at Israeli forces. Witnesses at the scene did not deny that some protesters had thrown stones at Israeli soldiers, but they said the clashes had ended when Ms. Igi was shot.
The protest began around noon, with dozens of residents and crowds of international activists, including Ms. Igi, rallying near Jabal Sbeeh, the hill on which Aviatar sits, witnesses said. The Israeli army was ahead of them; Palestinian residents held communal prayers at the scene.
After the prayers were over, clashes broke out, witnesses said.
Some demonstrators threw stones at Israeli soldiers, while soldiers fired tear gas and some bullets, said Hisham al-Dweikat, a resident of Beta who attended the demonstration. The group of demonstrators then moved about 220 yards to a landing in the built-up outskirts of the town, away from the troops, he added.
Israeli soldiers remained in roughly the same position, occupying the roof of a nearby building, said Mr. Pollack, an Israeli activist at the rally. By then, people had largely dispersed and there were no clashes in the area, he said.
“I was standing in the way,” Mr. Pollack said. “And she stood afar off in an olive grove.”
About half an hour after the demonstrators retreated, Mr. Pollack said he saw a soldier on the roof fire a single shot. He added that he took cover when he heard another shot.
A bullet wounded a Palestinian man, he said. The International Solidarity Movement said the man was hit in the leg, although a witness said the bullet first hit a metal pillar.
Another hit Ms. Iggy in the head, he said. She was too far away from the soldiers to pose a threat to them, he added.
“I put my hand on the back of his head and tried to stop the bleeding,” Mr Pollack said. “Her pulse was very weak.”
Before being taken by ambulance to the nearest largest city, Nablus, Ms. Iggy was taken to a local clinic in Beta. Hospital Director Dr. By the time she arrived, she was not breathing, Nafia said.
Palestinian Authority Attorney General Akram Khatib said Palestinian health officials would perform an autopsy on Ms. Ighi’s body. Reached by phone, he declined to say whether the authority would work with Israeli authorities to conduct a forensic analysis.
Bana Laboom, 13, was killed in Qariyut, a village near Nablus, where clashes broke out between Israeli settlers and a large group of Palestinians, with both sides throwing stones, according to Yusef Muammar, the village’s mayor.
The Israeli army later raided the city center, Mr. Muammar said, leading to more clashes. In a written statement, the Israeli military said it was trying to disperse the rioters.
Bana was watching the events from the window when he was shot, Mr. Muammar said. Palestinian paramedic Adam al-Johri said he found the girl dead a few minutes later.
Both said the Israeli army fired the fatal shots. The Israeli military said security forces at the scene had “fired in the air” in an attempt to end the clash, adding that it was still looking into reports that a child had been hit by gunfire.
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