Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers during a pro-Palestinian protest near Nablus in the West Bank.

According to reports, the demonstration started peacefully but escalated when activists began throwing stones at IDF soldiers, who responded with live ammunition.

Eygi was reportedly struck in the head and killed.

“The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an ‘instigator of violent activity’ in the arena of the protest,” AP News reported.

“The killing came amid a surge of violence in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and heavier military crackdowns on Palestinian protests,” the outlet continued.

The IDF also released a statement following the incident.

“Today (Friday), during Israeli security forces activity adjacent to the area of Beita, the forces responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them,” the IDF said.

“The IDF is looking into reports that a 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.”