The United Nations has called for an independent investigation into the killing of Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi last week in the occupied West Bank by Israel, which claims the 26-year-old was hit “unintentionally.”
“There needs to be an independent investigation into her death and all the other unlawful killings in the West Bank,” U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a dual U.S. and Turkish national, was fatally shot by Israeli forces last Friday during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in Beita, a town just outside the city of Nablus.
Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers opened live fire on demonstrators. Though she was standing away from the main protest area, she was fatally shot in the head. Despite being rushed to a hospital, medical workers were unable to save her.
She arrived in the West Bank last Tuesday to volunteer as part of an effort to support and safeguard Palestinian farmers, with the International Solidarity Movement, the same organization as legendary peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was murdered by Israel as she tried to stop the demolition of a Palestinian house in Gaza in 2003.
A Palestinian eyewitness said that the Israeli sniper who killed Eygi “cried out for joy” after shooting her while an Israeli activist who was there for the protests that day said: “The soldier who did this took a kill shot. That kill shot was no isolated incident.”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday claimed in a statement that the inquiry into Eygi’s killing found it “highly likely” she was hit directly and unintentionally by IDF fire.
But Eygi’s family wants the Biden administration to order an independent investigation into her killing.
“A U.S. citizen, Ayşenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter. We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Ayşenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” the family said in a statement earlier.
The White House on Monday said Biden, who has a long history of reaching out to bereaved victims’ families, has not spoken with her family yet.
“The killing of an American citizen during a protest last week in Israeli-occupied West Bank was unprovoked and unjustified and shows that the Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in their rules of engagement,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.
“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest,” Blinken told a news conference in London, delivering his harshest comments to date against the Israeli military.
“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement,” he said.
Eygi’s killing echoes the case of American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed similarly in 2022.
Shamdasani said Eygi became a “symbol of the systematic use of deadly force against peaceful protestors and other Palestinians in the West Bank.”
The U.N. Human Rights Office insists that Israel first investigate the murder and all the other unlawful killings, Shamdasani said, adding that if Israeli fails to lead a credible investigation, the U.N. would insist on an international independent investigation into the violations allowed to take place in Palestinian territories.
“I think we all share the feelings of anger, outrage and sadness about the killing of this young woman who was peacefully defending Palestinian rights and peacefully opposing settler violence and illegal settlements in the West Bank,” Shamdasani said.
The U.N. spokesperson also stressed that Israel’s attacks must stop and said the “outburst of anger” over Eygi’s killing must continue.
‘Icon for Palestine’
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Nablus on Monday for a funeral ceremony for Eygi. Mourners carried her body, wrapped in the Palestinian flag and the head covered by the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, on their shoulders as they chanted slogans, condemning Israeli actions.
Palestinian groups said Eygi “will remain an icon” for the Palestinian struggle at local and international levels.
“Many solidarity activists join our Palestinian people in the activities of the popular resistance in the towns and villages that are exposed to (Israeli) colonization and expropriation,” the statement read.
The Palestinian groups considered Eygi’s death as a confirmation of Israel’s implementation of the policies of killing, expulsion, and ban of entry for international solidarity activists.
Turkish authorities said they were working to bring Eygi’s body to her family in Türkiye for burial.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara would do everything possible to ensure “that Ayşenur Ezgi’s death does not go unpunished.”
“We will continue our fight against Israel at the highest level by taking it to the (International) Court of Justice,” he said.
