UN calls for full inquiry into West Bank shooting

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

According to local media, 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot and killed by Israeli forces while participating in a weekly demonstration against Jewish settlement expansion in the town of Beita, near Nablus.

Israel’s military stated it is “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed due to shots fired in the area.”

An eyewitness told the BBC World Service’s *Newshour* that he heard two gunshots during the protest.

Reacting to the killing, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN secretary general, said: “We would want to see a full investigation of the circumstances and that people should 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 White House’s National Security Council, said Washington was “deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen”.

“We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident,” Mr Savett said.

Footage from the scene shortly after the shooting shows medics rushing Ms Eygi into an ambulance.

Jewish-Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak, who was at the protest, told BBC World Service’s Newshour programme he had seen “soldiers on the rooftop aiming”.

He said he had heard two separate shots, “with like a second or two distance between them”.

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

He said he had then seen Ms Eygi “lying on the ground underneath an olive tree, bleeding to death from her head”.

“I put my hand behind her back to try and stop the bleeding,” he said. “I looked up, there was a clear line of sight between the soldiers and where we were. I took her pulse, and it was very, very weak.”

He added that Friday’s protest was Ms. Eygi’s first time participating with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian organization.

The dual national was taken to a hospital in Nablus, where she was later pronounced dead.

Dr. Fouad Nafaa, head of Rafidia Hospital, confirmed that a US citizen in her mid-20s had died from a gunshot wound to the head.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed sorrow over the “tragic loss,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Israeli action as “barbaric.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry stated that Ms. Eygi had been “killed by Israeli occupation soldiers in Nablus.”

Ms. Eygi, who had recently graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, was born in Antalya, Turkey. University President Ana Mari Cauce called the news of her death “awful,” adding that Ms. Eygi had a “positive influence” on her peers.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “During Israeli security forces activity adjacent to the area of Beita, the forces responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them.

“The IDF is 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.”

In his interview with the BBC, Jonathan Pollak was asked about the IDF’s statement, where the Israeli military said security forces had responded to stone-throwing.

Mr Pollak said there had been clashes but he felt that soldiers had been “under no threat”.

There had been “no stone throwing” where she had been, he said.

Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin city and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Friday, concluding a significant nine-day military operation.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 36 Palestinians were killed during the operation, with 21 from the Jenin governorate. While most of those killed have been identified as members of armed groups, the ministry also reported that children were among the victims.

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

These settlements are considered illegal under international law, a stance supported by the UN Security Council, the UK government, and others, though Israel disputes this interpretation.