UN calls for comprehensive investigation into West Bank shooting

The United Nations has called for a “full investigation” into the killing of a US-Turkish woman during a protest in the occupied West Bank on Friday.

Local media reported that 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot dead by Israeli forces as she took part in a weekly protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements in the town of Beita, near Nablus.

The Israeli military said it was “investigating reports that a foreign national was killed by gunfire in the area.”

An eyewitness told the BBC World Service’s Newshour program that he heard two shots during the demonstration.

Reacting to the murder, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said: “We want a full investigation into the circumstances and for those responsible to be held accountable.”

Civilians, he added, “must be protected at all times.”

The US also called for an investigation into the incident. Sean Savett, spokesman for the National Security Council in the White House, said Washington was “deeply saddened by the tragic death of an American citizen.”

“We have reached out to the Israeli government to request further information and call for an investigation into the incident,” Savett said.

Footage from the crime scene shortly after the shooting shows paramedics quickly carrying Ms. Eygi into an ambulance.

Jewish-Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak, who took part in the protest, said on the BBC World Service’s “Newshour” program that he saw “soldiers aiming from the roof.”

He said he heard two separate shots, “about a second or two apart.”

“I heard someone calling my name and saying in English, ‘Help us. We need help. We need help.’ I ran towards them,” he said.

He said he then saw Ms Eygi “lying on the ground under an olive tree, bleeding from the head”.

“I put my hand on her back to stop the bleeding,” he said. “I looked up. There was a clear line of sight between the soldiers and us. I felt her pulse and it was very, very weak.”

He added that Friday’s demonstration was Ms Eygi’s first participation in a protest rally organized by the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group.

The man, who had dual nationality, was taken to a hospital in Nablus, where he was later pronounced dead.

Dr. Fouad Nafaa, head of Rafidia Hospital where Ms. Eygi was admitted, confirmed that a US citizen in her mid-20s had died from a “gunshot to the head.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regretted the “tragic loss,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Israel’s actions as “barbaric.”

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ms Eygi was “killed by Israeli occupation soldiers in the city of Nablus”.

Before her trip to the Middle East, Ms. Eygi had just completed her studies at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The school’s president, Ana Mari Cauce, called the news of her death “terrible,” adding that Ms. Eygi had had a “positive influence” on other students.

According to Turkish media reports, Ms. Eygi was born in Antalya.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “During Israeli security forces’ activities near the Beita area, they responded with fire to a main instigator of the violence who threw stones at the forces and posed a threat to them.”

“The Israel Defense Forces are investigating reports that a foreign national was killed by gunfire from the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances under which she was hit are currently being reviewed.”

In his interview with the BBC, Jonathan Pollak was asked about the Israeli military’s statement that security forces were responding to stone throwing.

Mr Pollak said there had been clashes, but he felt the soldiers were not under “any threat”.

Where she was, “no stones were thrown,” he said.

Israeli forces withdrew from the city of Jenin and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Friday after conducting a major nine-day operation there.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 36 Palestinians have been killed during this period – 21 of them from Jenin province. Most of the dead were claimed by armed groups as members, but the ministry says children were also among those killed.

Over the past 50 years, Israel has built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where more than 700,000 Jews now live.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law – this is the position of the UN Security Council and the British government, among others – but Israel denies this.