UN demands full probe into Israel's killing of Turkish-American activist

The UN has called for a "full investigation" and accountability for the killing of a 26-year-old Turkish-American peace activist by the Israeli army in the northern occupied West Bank.

"We would want to see a full investigation of the circumstances and that people should be held accountable," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference on Friday, following news that the activist succumbed to her wounds after being shot and critically injured in the head by Israeli forces.

"Civilians must be, must be protected at all times," he added.

Asked about whether there has been any accountability for any UN personnel killed by Israel, Dujarric said: "We have not seen anything."

Expressing that investigations and the issue of accountability would happen "once the fighting stops," Dujarric said there had been "some movement" towards accountability on the issue of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees.

'Deliberately targeted'

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita in the Nablus district of the occupied West Bank.

Eygi, who was born in the Turkish city of Antalya in 1998, succumbed to her injuries despite attempts by medical teams to revive her, according to Fouad Nafaa, director of the Rafidia Hospital.

Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli soldiers opened live fire on a group of Palestinians participating in a demonstration condemning the illegal settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, south of Nablus.

Jonathan Pollack, an eyewitness to the murder and an Israeli activist who has participated in protests against illegal Israeli settlements, said the soldier who shot Eygi "had a clear line of sight to her."

"It's important for me to say that this isn't an isolated incident," Pollack said, adding that since 2021, a total of 17 people have been killed in demonstrations in Beita, all of whom were Palestinians.

"It is part of the Israeli escalation in the West Bank in recent months and it is part of the genocide that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza."

The Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement (ISM) also said Eygi was "deliberately targeted" by the Israeli sniper, citing testimony from eyewitness Mariam Dag (a pseudonym), who is also an ISM volunteer.

In a statement on Friday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Eygi's killing is "a direct outcome of the implementation of the instructions" of Israeli politicians to kill Palestinians and solidarity activists.

The ministry held the Israeli government fully responsible for the crime which confirmed its predetermined plans to escalate the situation to cover its colonial projects across the occupied territories.