UN demands thorough investigation into death of American citizen

The United Nations on Friday called for a “full investigation” into the circumstances leading to the death of an American woman in the occupied West Bank, saying civilians should be protected at all times.

“People should be held accountable,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the U.N. secretary general, said when he was alerted to the case by a reporter at a daily news briefing.

Two witnesses said Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot in the head Friday by Israeli forces who had opened fire. She was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist group, and was attending a protest at Jewish settlement expansion in the town of Beita, her colleagues said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that she was a citizen.

In a statement, Eygi’s family said they were in “shock and grief” following news of her death.

“Like the olive tree she lay beneath where she took her last breaths, Aysenur was strong, beautiful, and nourishing. Her presence in our lives was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military,” the family said.

Eygi had recently graduated from the University of Washington, where she was an active campus member who “felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians,” her family said. “She felt a deep responsibility to serve others and lived a life of caring for those in need with action. She was a fiercely passionate human rights activist her whole life — a steadfast and staunch advocate of justice.”

The White House said Friday that U.S. officials were “deeply disturbed” by Eygi’s death and had contacted Tel Aviv “to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident.”

Eygi’s family said that they appreciated U.S. officials’ condolences but called on them to order an independent investigation, stating that an “Israeli investigation is not adequate.”

Hisham Dweikat, a member of the Palestinian National Council legislative body who was at the protest when Eygi was shot, said a representative of the Palestinian attorney general took affidavits from Beita residents and international activists who were present Friday. He added that five Israeli military vehicles had also arrived at the site of the shooting and took photos and measurements.

News.Az