(Nablus) A Turkish-American activist was killed Friday during a protest against settlements in Beita in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli army admitted to having opened fire, with Washington deploring her “tragic” death and Ankara condemning a “barbaric intervention by Israel.”
Elsewhere in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, the Israeli army withdrew from the city of Jenin after a “pause”, according to an official, in its deadly operations carried out since August 28 against Palestinian armed groups.
In Beita, in the northern West Bank, an activist with American and Turkish citizenship, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was fatally wounded by a gunshot to the head, according to Rafidia Hospital in the nearby city of Nablus.
According to the UN Human Rights Office, “Israeli security forces killed a 26-year-old American activist in Beita, shooting her in the head as she participated in a peaceful protest” against Israeli settlements.
The Israeli military said soldiers in the area “responded with fire toward the main instigator of the violence who threw stones at the (soldiers) and posed a threat to them.”
The military is “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of gunfire in the area,” it added.
“Barbarian”
Israel’s main ally, the United States, deplored the young woman’s death and called for an investigation, according to the White House. “When we have more information […] “We will act accordingly,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has “condemned Israel’s barbaric intervention against a demonstration against the occupation in the West Bank” which he said cost the life of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.
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 demonstration against the expansion of Israeli settlements, Neta Golan, co-founder of the NGO, told AFP. These settlements are illegal under international law.
Witness to the scene, an ISM activist who requested anonymity spoke of a “shot to kill”, telling AFP that he saw “blood flowing from the head” of the victim.
PHOTO ISMAEL KHADER, REUTERS
Jenin, September 5
In a separate incident near Beita, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by Israeli gunfire, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. She was in her bedroom when she was shot, according to her father.
Since the start of the Israeli operation in Jenin on August 28, 36 Palestinians have been killed, including children and elderly people, according to the same ministry and the UN.
The Israeli army reported “35 terrorists eliminated” and one soldier killed.
Violence has flared in the West Bank since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, sparked by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israel on October 7.
PHOTO RAMADAN ABED, REUTERS
A displaced woman, Iqbal Al-Zeidi, stands in front of her tent which was destroyed by an Israeli strike, in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
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.
12e months of war in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory and where some 2.4 million inhabitants are besieged, the war, which enters its 12th day on Saturday, ise months, knows no respite.
The Israeli army is continuing an air and ground campaign of reprisals and at least two Palestinians were killed on Friday in Beit Lahia (north), according to the Civil Defense.
The United States has been calling on Israel and Hamas to finalize a ceasefire agreement and release Israeli hostages held in Gaza after months of failed negotiations brokered by Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators.
PHOTO RANEEN SAWAFTA, REUTERS
Israeli raids caused much destruction in Jenin.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007 and is considered a terrorist movement by the United States and the European Union.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, 33 of whom have been declared dead by the army.
The Israeli operations, which have caused a humanitarian and health catastrophe in Gaza, have left 40,878 dead there, according to the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilians and fighters killed. According to the UN, the majority of the dead are women and children.