The family of a Turkish-American activist fatally shot in the occupied West Bank during an anti-settlement protest accused the Israeli army of killing her on Saturday and demanded an “independent investigation.”
According to the UN, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was killed by gunfire from Israeli forces while she was taking part in a demonstration against Jewish settlements in Beita, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
“Her presence in our lives was brutally, unjustly and illegally taken away by the Israeli army,” the young woman’s family lamented in a statement.
“Aysenur was peacefully defending justice when she was killed by a bullet,” she added, citing a video “showing that it (the bullet) came from an Israeli army sniper.”
“We call on President (Joe) Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris, and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unjust killing of an American citizen and ensure that those responsible are fully held accountable.”
The Israeli military said Friday that soldiers in the Beita area “responded with fire toward the main instigator of violence who threw stones at them and posed a threat.” It said it was “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of gunfire in the area.”
Israel’s main ally, Washington, deplored the “tragic” death of the young woman and called for an investigation.
His family, however, said that “given the circumstances (…) of Aysenur’s death, an Israeli investigation is not sufficient.”
The young woman was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization, and was in Beita to participate in a weekly protest against the expansion of Israeli settlements, according to the NGO. These settlements are illegal under international law.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday condemned “a barbaric intervention by Israel” which he said cost the life of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.
Violence has flared in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, sparked by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel on October 7.
More than 660 Palestinians have since been killed in the West Bank by gunfire from Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to data from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
At least 23 Israelis, including soldiers, have died there in Palestinian attacks or military operations, according to official Israeli data.
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