Palestinian hospital says US citizen in West Bank dies of 'gunshot in the head'

Jerusalem: A Palestinian hospital official said Friday a US citizen died from a "gunshot in the head" in the occupied West Bank, and Israel's military said it was investigating the incident.

"An American solidarity activist arrived at the hospital with a gunshot in the head, and we announced her martyrdom around 14:30," said Fouad Nafaa, director of Rafidia hospital in Nablus.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the slain activist had been involved in a campaign known as "Fazaa" to protect farmers from Israeli settler violence, which has surged in the West Bank alongside the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.


The activist was a woman in her mid-20s, Nafaa told AFP.

Since Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which triggered the war, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 661 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 23 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the territory during the same period, according to Israeli officials.

Last month a US citizen told AFP he was shot by Israeli forces and wounded in the leg during a protest against settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, as the Israeli military confirmed it fired live rounds to disperse the gathering.

Palestinian medics reported that a foreign activist was shot during the demonstration in the town of Beita, while the Israeli military said he was "accidentally injured".