Israeli killing of American-Turkish activist condemned worldwide

Israel’s killing of an American-Turkish woman, Aysenur Eygi, in the occupied West Bank on Friday has been condemned worldwide, with several governments issuing statements.

Eygi was killed while taking part in a protest near Nablus, after being shot in the head by Israeli forces trying to forcibly disperse the protest. An autopsy report published on Saturday confirmed that the activist was killed by an Israeli sniper’s bullet to the head.

The 26-year-old had been taking part in weekly protests against an Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Beita, US and Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli army later admitted that they opened fire on demonstrators and issued a statement saying their forces "responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to the killing of Eygi by saying the US was working to "gather the facts", while National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said the US was "deeply disturbed" by her killing.

The killing sparked anger and calls for accountability from governments and activists around the world.

Turkey’s foreign ministry condemned Israel for her killing, saying they held the Israeli government responsible. "We will follow up on bringing those who killed our citizens to justice," foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said.

Qatar’s foreign ministry called the killing of Eygi a "heinous crime" and said it considers it a “link in the chain of repeated brutal crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian cause and human rights."

The statement also warned that silence from the international community is a "renewed incentive for the occupation to commit more atrocities".

Also weighing in, Egypt’s foreign ministry issued a similar statement, offering their condolences to the family of the activist and said it was the latest example of Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians or those who stand in solidarity with them.

Following the international ire and denunciation, the Israeli army said they were "looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area."

Eygi was volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the same pro-Palestine activist group as Rachel Corrie, a US citizen who was killed in 2003 while trying to block an Israeli bulldozer from razing Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.

The American-Turkish activist was also a University of Washington graduate who had just graduate this spring.

Calls for accountability

Nablus governor Ghassan Daghlas, said "all legal measures" would be submitted to the International Criminal Court.

"We appeal to President Joe Biden to stop all support to the occupying state because they are working hard to bomb hospitals and kill children and kill foreigners, including American nationals," he told reporters.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which has long-documented Israel’s assaults and human rights abuses against Palestinians, hit out on Israel’s claim that they will investigate the killing.

"We know Israel will at best claim ‘we’ll investigate’ and the international community will call on Israel to investigate itself. This would be a tired sham, a stunt that we have seen countless times whenever the IDF is caught red-handed. Only sanctions can deter such atrocities," they said in a post on X.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the global body wants to see a "full investigation of the circumstances" and that "people should be held accountable".

The killing of the activist comes as 652 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October according to the Palestinian ministry of health, and an additional 10,400 detained in the same time frame.

In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed at least 40,939 Palestinians since the start of the war, while 94,616 have been wounded.