Palestinian government condemns ‘brutal execution’ of US activist by Israeli army

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The UN calls for a “full” investigation and “accountability”, while stressing that “civilians must be protected at all times”

September 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Palestinian government has “strongly” condemned the “brutal execution” of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot in the head by a US soldier on Friday during a protest against settlements in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its social media account X that it considers this act “to be part of the crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, including genocide, forced displacement and the attack against people who show solidarity with the Palestinian cause.”

“The Israeli government bears full responsibility for this heinous crime, which is another example of its premeditated efforts to escalate the situation in the region, diverting attention from its colonial and expansionist agenda in the occupied State of Palestine,” he stressed.

The UN has therefore called on the international community and human rights organisations to “take urgent action” to “provide international protection to Palestinians” and “confront violations” by Israel, “including genocide, forced displacement, illegal settlements and extrajudicial killings” so that “Israeli war criminals are held accountable”.

For his part, the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stéphane Dujarric, has called for a “full investigation into the circumstances” and has requested “accountability”. “Civilians must be protected at all times,” he said during his daily press conference.

The family of the 26-year-old activist of Turkish descent has called on Washington to order an “independent investigation” into the incident, saying that “given the circumstances of Aysenur’s murder, an Israeli investigation is not appropriate.”

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday expressed the US government’s concern over Eygi’s “tragic death” and confirmed that Washington had contacted the Israeli government to request more information on the matter and to request the opening of an investigation.

The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident, while the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said Israeli troops “intentionally shot” Eygi during a protest in Beita, according to a statement on its website. The incident was also condemned by Turkey.

SENTENCE FOR THE DEATH OF A GIRL

The Foreign Ministry also condemned the “execution” of a 13-year-old girl identified as Bana Amjad Bakr, who was also shot on Friday by Israeli forces in the town of Qariut, south of Nablus, during a clash between settlers and Palestinian residents.

“This is an appalling example of the massacres perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians, especially children, which are escalating alongside unprecedented violence by settler militias,” he said in a second statement published on X.

Israeli settler attacks are common in the West Bank and have increased in scale and intensity since 7 October, when the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip began in response to attacks by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian factions against Israeli soil.

Palestinian authorities have estimated the number of people killed since October 7 at more than 690 and nearly 5,700 injured due to Israeli forces’ operations and settler attacks, which had already left a record number of dead in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the months of 2023 prior to the aforementioned attacks on October 7.