Turkish-American activist killed on Israeli politicians' orders: Palestinian Foreign Ministry

By Aysar Al-Ayas

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Friday said the killing of a Turkish-American activist by the Israeli army in the northern occupied West Bank was carried out on the orders of Israeli politicians.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist, was shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita, near Nablus city in the northern occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry called Aysenur's killing "an integral part of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people."

It added that such a crime is "a direct outcome of the implementation of the instructions" of Israeli politicians with the aim of killing Palestinians and solidarity activists.

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

Fouad Nafaa, the director of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, told Anadolu that Eygi arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. She succumbed to her injuries despite attempts by medical teams to revive her, according to Nafaa.

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, which lies south of the city of Nablus.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed that the victim was a volunteer with the Fazaa campaign, an initiative aimed at supporting and protecting Palestinian farmers from ongoing violations by illegal Israeli settlers and the military.

Residents of Beita hold weekly protests after Friday prayers to oppose the illegal Israeli settlement of Avitar, which sits on the peak of Mount Sbeih. The community demands the removal of the settlement, which they view as a violation of their land rights.

Eygi was born in the Turkish city of Antalya in 1998.

Tensions have escalated throughout the occupied West Bank as Israel continues its assault on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 40,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 691 people have been killed and over 5,700 injured by Israeli fire in the West Bank since then, according to the Health Ministry.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar