Palestinians honor US activist killed in West Bank at memorial procession

NABLUS, West Bank — Her body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and a black-and-white keffiyeh, the traditional headscarf that symbolizes solidarity with the Palestinian cause. “Palestine will always remember and honor your sacrifice,” read a sign held by a Palestinian human rights activist.

The official farewell to Aysenur Eygi, a 26-year-old Turkish-American activist who witnesses said was shot dead by Israeli forces last week during a demonstration against settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, took place on Monday in the Palestinian city of Nablus before her body was handed over for repatriation.

Amid the noise of drums and trumpets, her body was carried on a stretcher in a military train from the hospital where she had died to a crossroads and then loaded into an ambulance. The ceremony lasted about half an hour.

It was the first leg of Eygi's journey to Turkey, where her family has requested her burial.

It remains unclear which authority her body will be immediately handed over to after days of diplomatic wrangling. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday that efforts to return Eygi's body to Turkey were ongoing. Her funeral will take place in Didim, Aydın, on Turkey's west coast, spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement.

The repatriation of her body has been complicated by the closure of the land borders between the West Bank and Jordan, which came after a Jordanian gunman killed three Israelis at the main border crossing on Sunday. “At the family's request, we are exploring the possibility of flying the body directly to Turkey by plane to avoid delays in the repatriation,” Keceli said.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Witnesses said an Israeli soldier shot Eygi on Friday as she took part in a demonstration against Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank village of Beita, near Nablus. Other activists said she had recently arrived in the West Bank to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist group.

Israeli forces admitted opening fire at the demonstration but said they were investigating reports that a foreign national had been killed. The White House said it was “deeply disturbed” by the reports of her death.

Activists who were with Eygi at the time of her death said clashes broke out almost immediately after villagers and others gathered to pray on a hill opposite the Israeli outpost of Evyatar, which was built illegally in 2021 – under Israeli and international law – on what villagers say was private land.

After tear gas and live ammunition were used, protesters fled down the hill to the edge of the village to seek safety, activists said. According to eyewitnesses, Eygi, who was waiting in an olive grove, was then shot dead by the Israeli army.

What else you should know

Syria blames Israel for deadly overnight airstrikes near the western town of Masyaf. Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted “a number of military sites” at around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday and that the country's air defense systems “intercepted the missiles and shot down some of them.” The news agency said 16 people were killed, 36 others injured and a local highway damaged. SANA added that one of its photographers on duty was also injured. According to SANA, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a violation of its sovereignty. The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment; Israel does not normally confirm reports of attacks from abroad.

A campaign to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio is moving to the north of the Gaza Strip amid difficult conditions. David Mencer, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister's office, said the vaccination campaign would begin in the north on Tuesday. The World Health Organization had previously said that about 150,000 children would be vaccinated in the northern part of the campaign – the third and final phase. The agency said that in the early stages of the campaign, “a significant number of children eligible for vaccination” were “unable to reach vaccination sites due to insecurity” and that teams had to be deployed to pick them up.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 40,988 people have been killed and 94,825 injured since the war began in Gaza. The ministry makes no distinction between civilians and fighters, but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, including more than 300 soldiers. Since military operations began in Gaza, 340 soldiers have been killed.

Morris reported from Berlin and Timsit from London. Mohamad El Chamaa in Beirut, Sufian Taha in Jerusalem and Beril Eski in Istanbul contributed to this report.