Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: US-Turkish activist dies after being ‘shot in head by Israeli forces’
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An American-Turkish activist has died of her injuries after reportedly being shot by Israeli forces during a protest in the West Bank.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK said Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot in the head in Beita, near Nablus, on Friday.
Doctors said the 26-year-old arrived at hospital with a severe head injury and they were unable to restart her heart.
Ms Eygi was a member of the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
The Turkish foreign ministry called it “murder” and said she had been “killed by the Israeli occupation forces in Nablus, West Bank”.
Israel’s military is investigating and said troops had “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 called it a “tragic loss” and said American officials are “intensely focused” on establishing the facts.
An ISM activist who was with Ms Eygi told Sky News Israeli soldiers were on the road as they left a protest in a garden at around noon.
Mariam said there was “some confrontation and the army started throwing tear gas and shooting live ammunition”.
She said people retreated, with the group of international activists moving about 200m away down a hill.
“We were clearly visible on the road – we were just standing there, nothing was happening,” she said.
“Aysenur was slightly below us, next to an olive tree in the field. It was quiet, we just heard two live bullets – one hit a metal object.”
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US ‘deplores’ death of citizen in West Bank
Mariam – who only gave her first name – said one bullet “was directed at our friend’s head” and she saw her on the floor with blood coming from her head.
They said Ms Eygi was put in an ambulance and taken to a hospital in Nablus.
“She had a pulse but was unconscious throughout. In Nablus they tried to resuscitate her but that didn’t work,” said Mariam.
“Today was her first day in the field,” she told Sky News.
Mariam said the group were clearly visible and called it “an intentional direct hit towards an activist.”
Protests in the West Bank happen regularly – and sometimes turn violent – over the expansion of Israeli settlements and a rise in attacks by settlers.
The US has imposed sanctions on a number of people over such incidents.
Hundreds of troops have been involved in an operation in Jenin, in the West Bank. Pic: AP
A man inspects damage in Jenin. Pic: AP
In August, dozens of Israeli settlers, some wearing masks, attacked a West Bank village and torched homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he viewed it with the “utmost severity” – but his military has been accused of standing by as attacks take place.
Ms Eygi’s death came as Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp on Friday.
Hundreds of troops have been in Jenin for more than a week in an effort to eradicate Palestinian militants.
Palestinian health authorities say 39 people have been killed during Israel’s operations in the West Bank – with 21 of those in Jenin.
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Israel says most of those killed have been militants and that the offensive was necessary to prevent attacks on its civilians
However, the effect of the fighting has been severe, with water and electric cut, buildings destroyed and people forced to stay in their homes.
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Israelis carry coffins through Tel Aviv
The UN has accused Israel of using “lethal war-like tactics” in the camp, a cramped space home to tens of thousands of people.
Israeli armoured carriers were seen leaving Jenin via a checkpoint overnight and a statement from the government is expected later.
A ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas War still appears just out of reach despite huge pressure on Israel from the US and other allies, as well as domestically after the deaths of six more hostages last week.