The family of an American-Turkish activist have described their “shock and grief” and demanded an independent investigation into her “unlawful killing” after she was reportedly shot by Israeli forces.
Palestinian and Turkish officials said Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head in the village of Beita, near Nablus, during a protest on Friday against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israel said troops had “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them”.
On Friday Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations secretary general, called for a “full investigation” and for people to “be held accountable” adding that “civilians must be must be protected at all times”.
In a statement released on Instagram by Ms Eygi’s family, they described their “shock and grief” adding “she was gentle, brave, silly, supportive, and a ray of sunshine”.
Ms Eygi, who was a volunteer at the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was a “fiercely passionate human rights activist” and “strong, beautiful and nourishing” who was “taken needlessly, unlawfully and violently by the Israeli military”, her family said.
“Aysenur just turned 26 and graduated three months ago from the University of Washington, where she studied Psychology and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures… Aysenur felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure ongoing repression and violence.”
Her family has also insisted that “an Israeli investigation is not adequate” and demanded the US intervene “to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a US citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties”.
The White House said it was “deeply disturbed” by the death of Ms Eygi and called on Israel to investigate.
Advertisement
US secretary of state Antony Blinken called it a “tragic loss” and said American officials are “intensely focused” on establishing the facts.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:28
US ‘deplores’ citizen death in West Bank
Turkey describes death as ‘murder’
Turkey‘s foreign ministry described her death as “murder”, with President Tayyip Erdogan saying he would “continue to work in every platform to halt Israel’s policy of occupation and genocide”.
Israel denies its actions in occupied Palestinian territories amounts to genocide.
Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli participating in Friday’s protest, said the shooting happened shortly after dozens of Palestinians and international activists gathered on a hillside outside the northern West Bank town of Beita, overlooking the Israeli settlement of Evyatar.
Shots heard from rooftop
Mr Pollak said Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition at Palestinians who were throwing stones, and later two soldiers on the roof of a nearby home aimed a gun in the group’s direction and fired.
Mariam Dag, another ISM activist at the protest, also said she saw an Israeli soldier on a rooftop, then heard two shots and saw blood coming from Ms Eygi’s head.
Two doctors confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that Ms Eygi was shot in the head – Dr Ward Basalat, who administered first aid at the scene, and Dr Fouad Naffa, director of Rafidia Hospital in Nablus where she was taken.
ISM claimed 17 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces at the weekly Beita protests since March 2020.
Tried to stop her
Aria Fani, a professor of Middle Eastern languages and cultures at the University of Washington where Ms Eygi recently graduated, recalled how he had tried to talk her out of going to the West Bank.
Mr Fani said she told him “she needed to bear witness for the sake of her own humanity”.
Last week, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched raids across the occupied West Bank and sealed off the city of Jenin in what the Israeli foreign minister described as a “full-fledged war” against “Islamic-Iranian terrorist infrastructures”.
The armed wings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that their gunmen were fighting Israeli forces in the three West Bank areas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahusaid he viewed it with the “utmost severity” – but his military has been accused of standing by as attacks take place.
Satellite images show that smog in Pakistan can be seen from space, as the country battles record levels of air pollution.
Images from NASA Worldview show the east of the country cloaked in a toxic haze, with smog also reaching into India’s northern regions and New Dehli.
Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab region and home to 14 million people, had an air quality index of more than 400 on Tuesday morning, according to IQAir, which tracks global air quality.
Any reading above 300 is considered hazardous – anything between 0 to 50 is considered good.
Earlier in November, parts of Lahore had a reading above 1,900, marking a record high.
IQAir also reported on Tuesday that the concentration of PM2.5 – microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs and can cause cancer – in Lahore was more than 50 times above recommended guidelines.
The city in eastern Pakistan is often ranked as one of the worst places in the world for air pollution.
Regional authorities have banned most outdoor activities, ordered shops to close early, and closed schools and public spaces until 17 November in response to the air pollution.
Health officials said more than 40,000 people have already been treated for respiratory ailments, while hospitals in the region have reported an unprecedented rise in patients with eye and throat irritation and pink eye disease.
Advertisement
It comes as a UN agency warned the health of 11 million children in the Punjab region is at risk if efforts aren’t made to tackle the toxic smog.
Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF’s representative in the country, said in a statement: “Prior to these record-breaking levels of air pollution, about 12% of deaths in children under five in Pakistan were due to air pollution.
“The impact of this year’s extraordinary smog will take time to assess, but we know that doubling and tripling the amount of pollution in the air will have devastating effects, particularly on children and pregnant women.”
Several South Asian countries are engulfed by smog each winter as cold air traps dust, emissions and smoke from farm fires.
Thirty-five people have been killed and another 43 injured after a motorist deliberately drove his car into people exercising at a sports centre in the Chinese city of Zhuhai, police said.
A 62-year-old man, identified only by his family name of Fan, was detained at the centre late on Monday.
He was discovered in the car with a knife and wounds to his neck that were thought to be self-inflicted, according to a police statement.
Fan was reported to be unconscious and receiving medical care.
A motive has not been confirmed but police said a preliminary investigation found he was unhappy with the split of financial assets in his divorce.
Officers said a “number of” pedestrians were knocked down in the incident which took place on the eve of of an annual People’s Liberation Army exhibition in the southern Chinese city.
China’s president Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts” to treat those injured in the disaster, the country’s state media has said.
More from World
Mr Xi also said the perpetrator should be punished in “accordance with the law”.
Meanwhile, one of the four hospitals that took in casualties said it had more than 20 injured, state media reported.
Advertisement
Video shared on social media showed emergency services performing CPR on people at the scene, as others were told to leave the area.
Some were shared by news blogger and dissident Li Ying, who is better known on X as Teacher Li. His account posts daily news based on user submissions.
The clips showed dozens of people lying on the sports centre’s running track, with a woman in one saying: “My foot is broken.”
By Tuesday morning, searches for the incident were heavily censored on Chinese social media platforms.
A search on Weibo for the sports centre only turned up a few posts, with only a couple referring to the fact that something had happened, without pictures or details.
Articles by Chinese media about the incident from Monday night were taken down.
Chinese internet censors take extra care to check social media ahead of and during major events, such as the meeting of the National People’s Congress, where the government announces its major policy initiatives for the coming year.
The sports centre for the city district of Xiangzhou regularly attracts hundreds of residents, where they can run on the track field, play soccer and take part in social dances. Following the incident, the centre announced that it would be closed until further notice.
China has seen a number of attacks in which suspects appear to target random people such as schoolchildren.
In October, a 50-year-old man was detained after he allegedly used a knife to attack children at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured.
In September, three people were killed in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket.
Two commercial planes have been hit by gunfire over the capital of Haiti.
A Spirit Airlines flight was just metres from landing in Port-au-Prince having come from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, when gangs shot at the plane, injuring a flight attendant.
Footage circulating on social media, which is believed to have been filmed by an airline employee, appeared to show the hole where a bullet had entered the aircraft near the back door and struck overhead lockers.
The plane was diverted and landed in the Dominican Republic and all flights in and out of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport were halted, the US embassy in Haiti said.
Shortly after, a JetBlue flight was struck by a bullet as it took off from the capital towards New York.
The airline said its Flight 935 arrived later than scheduled without reporting any issues, but a post-flight inspection identified that the exterior of the aircraft had been hit.
JetBlue said it will extend on its halt of all flights to the nation until 2 December, adding that it is investigating the shooting and is collaborating with the relevant authorities.
It comes as businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aime became the nation’s new interim leader, replacing Garry Conille, who was fired from the position after only six months.
Mr Fils-Aime said his top priorities after taking office were to restore peace to the nation and hold elections, which haven’t been held in Haiti since 2016 – largely due to soaring levels of gang violence.
Advertisement
The country’s gangs – which control 80% of the capital as well as key roads and infrastructure – often target major airports like Toussaint Louverture International in an attempt to take advantage of political instability.
Earlier this year, coordinated attacks by gangs forced former prime minister Ariel Henry to resign.
Gunmen took control of police stations, opened fire on the airport – leading to its closure for nearly three months – and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons.
Violence continued under Mr Conille, including a gang massacre which killed 70 in the town of Pont-Sonde in October and the targeting of a United Nations helicopter which was hit by bullets as it flew over the capital.