UPDATE - Palestine condemns killing of Turkish-American activist by Israeli army in northern West Bank

UPDATES WITH HEAD OF THE COLONIZATION AND WALL AND RESISTANCE COMMISSION’ STATEMENTS

By Ahmed Asmar

Palestine strongly condemned the killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by the Israeli army as she was joining a peaceful anti-settlement rally in the northern occupied West Bank, according to separate statements by Palestinian groups on Friday.

The Turkish-American activist was fatally shot by the Israeli army during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita, near Nablus city.

"Another crime added to the series of crimes committed daily by the occupation forces, which require that their perpetrators be held accountable in international courts," said Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in a statement on his X account.

The Hamas group, for its part, described her killing as "a heinous crime," and called it "an extension of the occupation's deliberate crimes against foreign solidarity activists."

"We call upon the US administration to review its policies that are biased and supportive to the crimes and massacres of the (Israeli) occupation against our Palestinian people," Hamas said.

The Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in a statement also condemned Aysenur's killing by the Israeli forces, adding that her killing "brings to mind the long series of crimes committed by the Israeli army against international solidarity activists."

Fouad Nafaa, director of the Rafidia Hospital, told Anadolu that Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who held a dual citizenship of both Türkiye and the US, arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

Meanwhile Mouayed Shaban, head of the Colonization and Wall and Resistance Commission, said in a statement that targeting the American activist is an Israeli message of death to anyone involved in protecting Palestinian land and resisting illegal armed settlers.

“Today’s incident undoubtedly confirms the premeditated intent of the occupying state to target all forms of popular activities and events,” he added.

The Palestinians official asserted that “Eygi’ killing sends a message to the world about the brutality of this (Israeli) regime.”

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 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, south of Nablus.

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

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

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