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Agence France-Presse

The family of a Turkish-American woman shot dead while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank demanded an independent investigation into her death on Saturday, accusing the Israeli military of killing her “violently”.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was “shot in the head” while taking part in a demonstration in Beita in the West Bank on Friday, the United Nations rights office said.
“Her presence in our lives was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military,” Eygi’s family said in a statement.
A US citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter.
“We call on President Biden, Vice-President Harris, and Secretary of State Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a US citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties.”
The Israeli military said its forces “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them” during the protest.
Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation, and was in Beita on Friday for a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, according to ISM.

The group on Saturday dismissed claims that ISM activists threw rocks at Israeli forces as “false” and said the demonstration was peaceful.
“Aysenur was more than 200 metres away from where the Israeli soldiers were, and there were no confrontations there at all in the minutes before she was shot,” ISM said in a statement.
In recent years, pro-Palestinian demonstrators have frequently held weekly protests against the Eviatar settlement outpost overlooking Beita, which is backed by far-right Israeli ministers.
During Friday’s protest, Eygi was shot in the head, according to the UN rights office and Rafidia hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Turkey said she was killed by “Israeli occupation soldiers”, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemning the Israeli action as “barbaric”.
Washington called it a “tragic” event and has pressed its close ally Israel to investigate.
But her family has demanded an independent probe.
“Given the circumstances of Aysenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” her family said.
On Saturday, footage showed Eygi’s body, wrapped in a blue cloth, kept in a morgue next to the body of a teenage girl who was killed the previous day in a separate incident in the West Bank.


The Palestinian health ministry said the 23-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and killed by “occupation [Israel] bullets” in Qaryut, near Beita.
On Saturday, Nablus governor Ghassan Daghlas accused Israeli forces of killing the two.
“Both were killed by the same bullets ... The same bullets,” he said, referring to Israeli forces.
“We call out the international community to stop the insane war on Palestine. Bullets do not differentiate between activists and a Palestinian child,” he said.
Eygi’s family said she always advocated “an end to the violence against the people of Palestine”.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank – where about 490,000 people live – are illegal under international law.
Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel which triggered the war in Gaza, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 662 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 23 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period, according to Israeli officials.


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Family demands independent probe into ‘Israeli military’ killing of American

Members of the Palestinian security forces carry the body of 13-year-old Bana Bakr a day after she was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Qaryut in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry, on September 7, 2024. Photo: AFP

Palestinian mourners gather around the covered bodies of Turkish-American Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, and Bana Bakr, 13, at a morgue in Nablus, West Bank, on Saturday. Witnesses said Eygi was fatally shot by Israeli forces in a moment of calm after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces near Nablus on Friday. Bakr was also killed by Israeli fire the Palestinian health ministry said, while the Israeli army said they were reviewing the incident. Photo: AP

US woman Aysenur Ezgi Eygi shot dead by Israeli troops at West Bank protest

Activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a village near Nablus that has seen repeated attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers. Photo: X/Istanbultelaviv

Medical staff transport the body of a US citizen at a hospital in Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Friday. Photo: AFP

People react as they gather at a hospital after a US citizen, who was taking part in a protest against settlement expansion, died of her wounds after being shot in the head in Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Israeli army says it killed 2 Palestinians attempting West Bank bombings

People walk past the devastation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem in the occupied-West Bank after a large-scale Israeli military operation. Photo: dpa

A Palestinian girl searches a home after it was destroyed overnight by an Israeli army raid, in the occupied West Bank, on August 31, 2024. The Israeli army and Israeli settlers have killed at least 637 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began. Photo: AFP

UN food agency suspends staff movement in Gaza after vehicle fired on

Bullets hit one of the armoured vehicles, but no one in it was hurt. Photo: World Food Programme via Reuters

US says ‘time to finalise’ Gaza deal after Israeli hostage deaths

People hold placards as they protest against the government and to show support for hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Demonstrators embrace each other in front of a banner depicting Israeli PM Netanyahu in a submarine torpedoing the hostage deal during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Gaza war: US charges Hamas leaders over October 7 attack on Israel

A large picture of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar hangs on a wall at Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran, in August. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation


Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation.


United States

Israel

State of Palestine