Israeli troops shoot Turkish-American woman dead at West Bank protest

Israeli troops shot and killed a Turkish-American woman who had been taking part in a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank on Friday, Palestinian and Turkish officials said.

The White House said it was deeply disturbed by the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi and called on Israel to investigate. Turkey's foreign ministry said she was shot in the head, and placed blame on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for her death.

Palestinian officials described her as a 26-year-old activist who held both U.S. and Turkish citizenship.

Israel's military said its troops had fired toward a male "main instigator" who posed a threat by hurling rocks at soldiers.

The military was looking into reports that a female foreign national "was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review."

There was no immediate comment on the incident from Netanyahu's office.

Fouad Nafaa, head of Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, told Reuters that Eygi arrived there in critical condition, with a serious head injury.

"We tried to perform a resuscitation operation on her, but unfortunately she died," he said.

The Palestinian Authority's official news agency, WAFA, said the incident occurred during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a village near Nablus that has seen repeated attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers.

'DEEPLY DISTURBED'

In a statement, Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the White House's National Security Council, said Washington was "deeply distributed by the tragic death of an American citizen" in the West Bank on Friday.

"We have reached out to the Government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident," Savett said.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Eygi's death, saying in a post on social media that Turkey "will continue to work in every platform to halt Israel's policy of occupation and genocide". Israel denies its actions in occupied Palestinian territories amount to genocide.

In a separate incident in the West Bank village of Qaryut on Friday, a 13-year-old girl was killed during clashes with Israeli forces, Palestinian health officials said, after settlers attacked two residents there.

WAFA quoted the girl's father as saying that she was in their home when it was hit by gunfire. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state. Israel has built Jewish settlements there that most countries deem illegal, which Israel disputes citing historical and biblical ties to the land.

A rise in violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the settler movement.

Several weeks ago around 100 settlers attacked the village of Jit, in the northern West Bank, drawing worldwide condemnation and an Israeli government promise of swift action against anyone found guilty of violence.

Palestinians and human rights groups regularly accuse Israeli forces of standing by as attacks take place and even joining in themselves.