Funeral of an American activist who, according to witnesses, was shot dead by Israeli troops

NABLUS – The Palestinian Authority held a funeral procession on Monday for an American activist who, according to a witness, was shot dead by Israeli forces last week after a demonstration against settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Dozens of mourners, including several leaders of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, attended the funeral of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old from Seattle who also held Turkish citizenship.

Eygi's body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and her face covered with a traditional black and white checkered scarf as security forces carried her and placed her in a Palestinian ambulance.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said his country was working to transfer Eygi's remains to the Aegean coastal town of Didim for burial, in accordance with her family's wishes. With the land crossing between the West Bank and Jordan closed on Sunday following an attack on Israeli civilians, the ministry sought to have the body flown to Turkey.

US authorities did not respond to a request for comment.

Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli peace activist who attended the protests with Eygi on Friday, said she posed no threat when Israeli forces shot at her. He said the killing occurred during a period of calm following clashes between soldiers and Palestinian protesters.

Pollak said he saw two Israeli soldiers climb onto the roof of a nearby house, point a gun at the group and fire, with one of the bullets hitting Eygi in the head.

The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident. On Saturday, it said an “initial investigation” had shown that security forces had been deployed to break up a riot near the town of Beita involving Palestinian and Israeli civilians, which had resulted in “mutual stone-throwing.” Security forces fired shots in the air, the military said.

Eygi's family called on the Biden administration to launch an independent investigation into the killing. The family's statement was released by the International Solidarity Movement, the organization Eygi was volunteering for at the time of her death.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October, there has been an increase in violence in the West Bank, including increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians.