Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: Family says her life was taken ‘needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military’
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”.
Pic: Provided by ISM from Eygi’s family
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.
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
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.
Read more from Sky News:
Israel kills senior Hamas commander in the West Bank
IDF bulldozes businesses in West Bank
Benjamin Netanyahu facing fight of his political life
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.
Palestinians survey the damage following Israel’s military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday. Pic: AP
Israel’s military operation continues in Jenin which has been sealed off by forces since last week. Pic: AP
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.
In August, dozens of Israeli settlers, some wearing masks, attacked a West Bank village and torched homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he viewed it with the “utmost severity” – but his military has been accused of standing by as attacks take place.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
Read more:
Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
Seriously ill children from Gaza allowed into UK
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway