Ayşenur Eygi’s family demands independent investigation into West Bank death | West Bank

The family of a Turkish-American woman who was shot dead during a protest against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is demanding an independent investigation into her death.

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was “shot in the head” on Friday while taking part in a protest in Beita in the West Bank, the UN Human Rights Office said.

“Her presence in our lives was taken away unnecessarily, unlawfully and violently by the Israeli army,” Eygi’s family said in a statement.

“Ayşenur, an American citizen, was peacefully standing up for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video footage shows was fired by an Israeli military gunman.

“We call on President (Joe) Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris, and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of an American citizen and ensure full accountability for the guilty parties.”

The Israeli military said its forces “responded with fire to the main instigator of the violent activities, who threw stones at the troops and posed a threat to them” during the protest.

Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization, and was in Beita on Friday for a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, ISM said.

The group on Saturday dismissed claims that ISM activists threw stones at Israeli troops as “false” and said the demonstration was peaceful.

“Ayşenur was more than 200 meters away from where the Israeli soldiers were and there were no clashes there at all in the minutes before she was shot,” ISM said.

In recent years, pro-Palestinian protesters have held regular weekly protests against the Eviatar settlement, which overlooks Beita and is supported by far-right Israeli ministers.

During Friday’s protest, Eygi was shot in the head, the UN Human Rights Office and Rafidia Hospital said, where she was pronounced dead.

Turkey said she was killed by “Israeli occupation soldiers”, while the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the Israeli action as “barbaric”.

Washington called it a “tragic” event and has pressured its close ally Israel to investigate.

But her family is demanding an independent investigation.

“Given the circumstances surrounding Ayşenur’s murder, an Israeli investigation is not sufficient,” her family said.

On Saturday, AFP footage showed Eygi’s body, wrapped in a blue cloth, being kept in a morgue next to the body of a teenage girl who was killed the day before in a separate incident in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the Palestinian girl was shot dead by “occupation bullets (from Israel)” in Qaryut, near Beita.

On Saturday, Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas accused Israeli forces of killing the two.

“Both were killed by the same bullets… The same bullets,” he said, referring to the Israeli forces.

“We call on the international community to stop the insane war in Palestine. Bullets do not distinguish between activists and a Palestinian child,” he said.

Eygi’s family said she has always advocated for “an end to violence against the people of Palestine”.

The Israeli settlements in the West Bank, home to approximately 490,000 people, are illegal under international law.

Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 662 Palestinians in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

At least 23 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period, Israeli officials said.