Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: US-Turkish activist dies after being ‘shot in head by Israeli forces’
An American-Turkish activist has died of her injuries after reportedly being shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK said the woman was shot in the head in Beita, near Nablus, earlier today.
A&E medic Dr Ward Basalat said he treated her head wound but she died shortly after arriving at hospital.
A US State Department spokesman named her as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi and said officials “were urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death”.
Palestinian media said the 26-year-old was shot at a demonstration against settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Ms Eygi is understood to have been part of the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement.
The Turkish foreign ministry called it a “murder” and said she had been “killed by the Israeli occupation forces in Nablus, West Bank”.
The woman who died has been named as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. Pic: X/@hzomlot
Israel’s military said it was looking into the reports, and that its forces had “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them”.
“The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” it added.
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US ‘deplores’ death of citizen in West Bank
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US deplored the loss of one of its citizens and that details of her death must be established.
Protests in the West Bank happen regularly – and sometimes turn violent – over the expansion of Israeli settlements and a rise in attacks by settlers.
The US has imposed sanctions on a number of people over such incidents.
Hundreds of troops have been involved in an operation in Jenin, in the West Bank. Pic: AP
A man inspects damage in Jenin. Pic: AP
In August, dozens of Israeli settlers, some wearing masks, attacked a West Bank village and torched homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he viewed it with the “utmost severity” – but his military has been accused of standing by as attacks take place.
The death of the US woman came as Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp on Friday.
Hundreds of troops have been in Jenin for more than a week in an effort to eradicate Palestinian militants.
Palestinian health authorities say 39 people have been killed during Israel’s operations in the West Bank – with 21 of those in Jenin.
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Israel says most of those killed have been militants and that the offensive was necessary to prevent attacks on its civilians
However, the effect of the fighting has been severe, with water and electric cut, buildings destroyed and people forced to stay in their homes.
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The UN has accused Israel of using “lethal war-like tactics” in the camp, a cramped space home to tens of thousands of people.
Israeli armoured carriers were seen leaving Jenin via a checkpoint overnight and a statement from the government is expected later.
A ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas War still appears just out of reach despite huge pressure on Israel from the US and other allies, as well as domestically after the deaths of six more hostages last week.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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