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Aware of death of American citizen in West Bank: State Department
“We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank”, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in an emailed statement.
“We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens,” he added.
Eygi, who held both Turkish and US citizenship, was killed earlier today after being fired upon by Israeli soldiers during an anti-settlement protest in the occupied West Bank’s Beita, south of Nablus. She was shot in the head.
US ‘to act as necessary’ over killing of American citizen: Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US “deplores” the death of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank and will “act as necessary” to find out what happened.
Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head by Israeli forces in the town of Beita near Nablus during a protest against illegal Israeli settlement expansion.
Asked if the US would take action against Israel, Blinken said: “First things first – let’s find out exactly what happened and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that.”
Earlier, the White House said in a statement it was “deeply disturbed” by the killing of a US citizen. Palestinian medics said the activist, who also had Turkish citizenship, was shot in the head and later died at hospital.
People gather around Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at a hospital in Nablus after she was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers
Which is, asking the IDF to investigate itself?
US Muslim group asks FBI to investigate killing of American activist
A Muslim advocacy group in the US has asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the killing of a Turkish-American activist in the occupied West Bank.
“I write to request that the Justice Department investigate and prosecute the Israeli officials, soldiers, and settlers responsible for committing violent crimes against Palestinian-Americans, including slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and peace activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers today in the occupied West Bank,” Robert S McCaw, a director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a letter.
“CAIR calls on the DOJ, working in coordination with FBI and Department of State, to immediately investigate and prosecute the horrific murder of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was allegedly shot in the head by Israeli soldiers while volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement to protect Palestinian farmers,” McCaw said.
“In light of this heinous act of violence, we demand the US government act on its own accord and not passively defer to Israeli investigations, which time and again have resulted in predictable exoneration.”
Israeli army looking into death of ‘foreign national’ in occupied West Bank
The Israeli military says it is investigating reports of the killing of a Turkish-American woman in the village of Beita after witnesses accused Israeli soldiers of shooting her dead. In a brief statement, the army said it’s “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area”.
“The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” it added. The military said soldiers fired towards a male “main instigator” who posed a threat by hurling rocks at soldiers.
Activist killing: ‘Shots came from the direction of the army, not anywhere else’
Here are the accounts of two witnesses who observed the killing of Turkish-American activist Ezgi Eygi, 26, in the occupied West Bank village of Beita:
- Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli who was participating in Friday’s protest, said the shooting occurred shortly after dozens of Palestinians and international activists held a communal prayer on a hillside outside the northern town of Beita overlooking the illegal Israeli settlement of Evyatar.
- Soldiers surrounded the group as its members prayed and clashes soon broke out with Palestinians throwing stones and soldiers firing tear gas and live ammunition, Pollak said.
- The protesters and activists, including Pollak and Ezgi Eygi, retreated from the hill, and the clashes calmed down, he said. He then watched as two soldiers standing on the roof of a nearby home trained a gun in the group’s direction and fired. He saw the flares leave the barrel of the gun when the shots rang out.
- He said Ezgi Eygi was about 10 or 15 metres (33 to 50ft) behind him when the shots were fired. Pollak then saw her “lying on the ground next to an olive tree, bleeding to death”, he said.
- Mariam Dag, another activist at the protest, also said she saw an Israeli soldier on a rooftop. Dag said she then heard the firing of two live rounds. One ricocheted off something metal and hit a Palestinian protester in the leg; the other hit Ezgi Eygi, who had moved back into an olive grove, she said.
- Dag said she ran towards the fallen woman and saw blood coming from her head. “The shots were coming from the direction of the army. They were not coming from anywhere else.”
Israeli settlers march towards the outpost of Evyatar near the Palestinian village of Beita
Jordan demands justice for slain Turkish-American activist
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry says those responsible for the killing of Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank must be held accountable.
Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist, was shot and killed during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita near Nablus city in the northern occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the ministry described the killing as a “heinous crime that requires holding those responsible accountable”. The activist’s shooting is a continuation of Israel’s “crimes against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank”, it added.
Witnesses said Ezgi Eygi was shot by Israeli soldiers who fired from a rooftop after skirmishes broke out.
