Testimonies added to case file in killing of Turkish-American activist
3 Min Read
A witness reveals that an Israeli soldier stood at the top of an occupied Palestinian home and shot Aysenur Ezgi Eygi with "intent to kill."
-
Mehmet, left. the father of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old Turkish-American activist killed by the Israeli military, attends prayers during his daughter's funeral outside the central mosque of Didim, Turkiye, on September 14, 2024. (AP)
Witness testimonies and evidence have been added to Turkiye's investigation into the killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot by Israeli forces during a peaceful demonstration in the occupied West Bank last month.
Turkiye's Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau has classified the incident as a "crime against humanity" and has charged those involved with "premeditated murder."
The case file includes eyewitness accounts, photographs, video footage, and an autopsy report from Palestinian judicial authorities. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently reviewing these materials to identify those responsible for ordering and carrying out the shooting that resulted in Eygi's death.
According to the investigation, the incident occurred during a peaceful demonstration in Beita, Nablus, which included international solidarity activists, including Eygi.
After Friday prayers, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas into the crowd and occupied a nearby Palestinian home. Shortly thereafter, Eygi was struck by gunfire from Israeli soldiers positioned on a rooftop, leading to her fatal injuries.
‘Directly targeted with intent to kill’
Witness Alex Edward Harrison Chabbott, an American citizen, reported that Israeli soldiers began firing tear gas as soon as the protest started, prompting protesters to seek cover. He stated that he heard two gunshots from the rooftop of an occupied Palestinian home, with the second shot hitting Eygi, emphasizing that she was "directly targeted with intent to kill."
British activist Dominic Robin Sedol provided a similar account, noting that soldiers approached around 1 PM local time and started firing tear gas. While taking shelter among olive trees, he heard at least two gunshots and then saw Eygi on the ground.
He said that the Israeli soldiers fired with "the intent to kill Ayse directly."
Another witness, Australian Helen Maria O’Sullivan, noted that they came to Beita to observe and document the events while maintaining a peaceful presence.
O’Sullivan reported that while hiding, she heard people yell "live bullets" in English, noting that Aysenur was within the soldiers' line of sight when the second gunshot was fired. She added, "There was no one else armed in the area."
Jonathan Polak Pasterbnak, an Israeli who attended the protest with Eygi, confirmed that soldiers fired live ammunition.
After the second shot, he ran over and saw Aysenur lying on the ground, with severe bleeding from her head, Pasterbnak said. "I looked at the soldiers on the roof of the house and saw that the soldiers were still there, they had directly targeted Aysenur."
The killing of activist Aysenur Eygi by Israeli soldiers
Eyewitnesses reported that Eygi was shot dead by Israeli forces on September 9 during a peaceful time, with no clashes or violent confrontations.
Her death has sparked outrage and drew international condemnation. The Beita protest was part of ongoing demonstrations against the expansion of Israeli settlements and land seizures in the area.
It is worth noting that Eygi would be the third ISM volunteer the IOF murdered, after Rachel Corrie in 2004 and Tom Hurndall in 2005.
"An American solidarity activist arrived at the hospital with a gunshot in the head, and we announced her martyrdom around 14:30," the director of Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, Fouad Nafaa said on September 9.
