UK, US governments need to hold Israel to account for murder of Turkish-American activist: Protesters

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The killing of a Turkish-American activist in the West Bank by Israel during a peaceful protest continues to spark anger with British protesters decrying the killing and calling on the US, UK governments to hold Israel to account over the murder.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist, was shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday while participating in a demonstration against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita.

An autopsy report of Eygi has confirmed she was killed by an Israeli sniper’s bullet to the head, Nablus governor Ghassan Daghlas said on Saturday.

Eygi, 26, a dual citizen of Türkiye and the US, had been actively involved in solidarity movements supporting Palestinian rights. Her death has sparked outrage and calls for accountability from both local and international communities.

Speaking to Anadolu, Charlie Burt, a protester, said that journalists, activists and everyone who’s showing solidarity towards Palestine “are on targets.”

"It was a peaceful protest she was attending, and it's unacceptable that anyone would be shot for that or murdered," he said referring to the killing of Eygi.

Burt also demanded that Israel should be held to account over the murder.

"I think, the UK and US governments need to hold Israel to account for her murder. It's disgusting, quite frankly," he added.

Asked whether the government should do more to prevent more killings, Burt said he believes the UK government is "too soft" on Israel at the moment.

Reminding that the government has suspended 30 arms licenses recently, Burt, however, stressed that all of them need to be halted, including F-35 parts.

"We should sanction, divest and boycott Israel completely until the genocide ends and Palestine is free," added Burt.

On Monday, the government announced that it was suspending 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel after a review, warning there is a clear risk that certain UK arms exports to Israel might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

The 30 licenses cover components for military aircraft, helicopters, drones and items that facilitate ground targeting, excluding UK components for the F-35 fighter jet program.

For her part, Vicki Narcin, another protester, said that killing an activist for protesting against the genocide is “just typical” of the Israeli army to do so.

"This should all be stopped now. Stop arming Israel,” she noted, mentioning that the UK shouldn't have export licenses anymore.

Narcin added: "It is a genocide, it's against international law and in my view, they are war criminals."

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Besides killing more than 40,000 Palestinians since then, the military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.