Gaza live: Several dead including Hezbollah commander after Israeli strike on southern Beirut

The governor of Nablus has said that the autopsy of the American-Turkish activist shot by Israeli forces has revealed she was shot by an Israeli sniper, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head by Israeli forces while participating in a protest against illegal Israeli settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, south of Nablus.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• At least 18 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza this morning, according to medical sources.

• This included attacks on a school where eight Palestinians were killed in shelters, and on the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps.

• This followed the killing of 33 people by Israeli forces across the enclave on Friday.

• Palestinian civil defence reported that its teams had recovered two bodies from northern Rafah.

• A Palestinian man was shot and injured during an Israeli raid on the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah.

• The UN has called for a "full investigation" into the killing by Israeli forces of American-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

• Unrwa is continuing its polio vaccination campaign in southern Gaza, despite Unicef reporting that Israeli troops had blocked its teams from accessing communities in the area.

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Israeli forces "deliberately" shot Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi during a protest in the occupied West Bank, an activist who was at the scene told Middle East Eye

• A Turkish official told Middle East Eye that Palestinian authorities believe Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot in a targeted killing. 

• The Israeli army said in a statement that it will continue its operation in Jenin, occupied West Bank, "until its objectives are achieved"

• Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir requested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to include the defeat of Hamas in the West Bank in its current war objectives

• At least six more Palestinians have been killed in attacks on Gaza this evening, bringing the number of Palestinians killed across Gaza on Friday to at least 33

After the news of Israel's killing of US-Turkish citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi spread throughout the US and international media landscape, the Biden administration said the news was "tragic", offering condolences to the family while refraining from laying the blame on Israel or condemning the incident.

Instead, the US State Department said it would gather the information about her death and then make further comment at a later point.

"We deplore this tragic loss. Now, the most important thing to do is gather the facts," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press availability while visiting the Dominican Republic.

"Any actions that we take are driven by the facts. So first things first, let's find out exactly what happened."

An activist who was with Ezgi Eygi at the time of the shooting told Middle East Eye she was deliberately shot in the head. Ezgi Eygi, the activist and others were taking part in a weekly demonstration of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian solidarity activists against an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank near the Palestinian town of Beita.

The activist said they retreated from soldiers, who had shot tear gas into the crowd. Then two rounds of live ammunition were fired at the group, the activist said, one of which struck Ezgi Eygi in the head.

"When she was shot, she was standing there doing absolutely nothing with one other woman - it was a deliberate shot because they shot from a very, very, very far distance," said the activist, who did not want to be identified.

"It was a deliberate shot to the head."

Read more: Aysenur Ezgi Eygi: Lukewarm US response to Israel's killing of Turkish-American citizen draws sharp criticism

Palestinians held in Israeli jails are “consistently and continuously” being killed and tortured and suffer intimidation tactics that “exceeds imagination,” the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said.

The harsh conditions faced by detainees held in Israeli prisons are only a “small part of the ugly and bleak” reality, it added, Al Jazeera reported. 

The commission accused the Israeli government of turning these facilities into torture and killing chambers, using the “most heinous and most humiliating means in a manner that violates all the rules of international and humanitarian law.”

At least six more Palestinians have been killed in attacks on Gaza this evening, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. 

Medics transported several wounded people to Al-Awda Hospital, in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, after a residential home was struck killing four members of one family and wounding several others, according to local medical sources.

The latest attacks bring the total number of Palestinians killed across Gaza on Friday to at least 33, medical sources said.

A Turkish official told Middle East Eye that Palestinian authorities believe Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot in a targeted killing. 

"Palestinian authorities believe the killing of Turkish-American dual citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi shares similarities to the murder of US journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 by the Israeli security forces. They believe it is very likely to be a targeted killing via a sniper as in [the] Abu Akleh incident," the Turkish official said. 

"Palestinian officials will undergo their own autopsy on the body because they don't trust the Israelis," he added.

In May 2022, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces while wearing a blue press vest and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Friday. 

"I condemn Israel's barbaric intervention in a civilian protest against the occupation in the West Bank, and I pray to God to have mercy on our citizen, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who lost her life in the attack," he posted on X.

"Turkey will continue to work on every platform to make them answer for their crimes against humanity before the law, and to end this occupation and genocide that has been going on for almost a year, in which Israel has massacred 41,000 people including children, young and old people," he added.

Hamas has condemned the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US citizen, who was fatally shot in the head by Israeli forces during a protest in the occupied West Bank.

"This heinous act is a part of the occupation's crimes against those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people," Hamas said in a statement, adding that these acts are "systematic and ongoing and are committed by occupation forces and settlers alike."

It accused the the Israeli government of attempting to "silence every voice" that speaks out against its policies.

"We call on the international community … to hold the occupation's government responsible for its fascist acts," it added. 

After Israeli forces shot Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi during a protest in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning, the Israeli military said that it was looking into "reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review," Reuters reported.

"We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens,” Miller added.

Israeli forces "deliberately" shot Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi during a protest in the occupied West Bank, an activist who was at the scene told Middle East Eye.

The activist, who did not want to be identified, said that Ezgi Eygi and other volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement were attending the weekly anti-settlement demonstration at Beita when Israeli forces attacked the gathering.

The activist said they retreated from soldiers, who had shot tear gas into the crowd. Then two rounds of live ammunition were fired at the group, the activist said, one of which struck Ezgi Eygi in the head.

"When she was shot, she was standing there doing absolutely nothing with one other woman - it was a deliberate shot because they shot from a very, very, very far distance," said the activist.

"It was a deliberate shot to the head."

The Israeli army confirmed the incident, saying they had "responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them."

Footage seen by MEE showed Ezgi Eygi's bloodied head being bandaged, and another video of her being taken to an ambulance in an olive grove.

Read more: US citizen shot dead by Israeli soldier in West Bank during settlement protest

A Turkish-American activist who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has been identified as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

Ezgi Eygi, 26, died of a gunshot wound to the head while participating in a protest against illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

There has been no immediate comment from the US embassy.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry, in a statement, described Egyi's death as a "murder committed by the Netanyahu Government."

"Israel is trying to intimidate everyone who comes to the aid of the Palestinians and fights peacefully against genocide," said the ministry, who said she was a Turkish citizen.

"This policy of violence will not yield results."

Israeli forces have pulled out of Jenin after a 10-day assault, but the military has denied it is ending its operation in the occupied West Bank.

The offensive, which has so far left at least 39 Palestinians dead, saw soldiers backed by armoured vehicles and bulldozers targeting the city and its adjacent refugee camp, forcing the flight of many of the residents.

Palestinians started returning to their Jenin homes on Friday, while those who had been trapped by the offensive were able to venture outside for the first time in more than a week.

One resident of the refugee camp said the Israelis left early in the morning.

"We didn’t leave the house for 10 days during this operation, myself, my children, and my husband’s family," she told Middle East Eye.

The assault on the camp left them without electricity or water for days.

When they finally went outside on Friday, the resident said it looked as though "a big bomb had fallen".

"Many houses are destroyed, and there are other houses they used as military bases, but they destroyed the furniture and created destruction in the houses," she said.

Read more: Israel pulls out of Jenin, but denies end of West Bank offensive

Israeli forces pulled out of the Palestinian city of Jenin on Friday, leaving a mass of damaged buildings and infrastructure, following their largest invasion of the occupied West Bank since the Second Intifada.

The Jenin municipality said on Sunday that the Israeli army has bulldozed 70 percent of the city’s streets and water has been cut off from 80 percent of homes.

Additionally, 20 kilometres of water and sewage networks, communication and electricity cables have been demolished.

At least 39 Palestinians were killed in the military operation that went on for over a week, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Nidal al-Obaidi, mayor of Jenin, told MEE that the Israeli operations have left the city looking like the aftermath of an earthquake.

Obaidi said on Friday that repairs to the water and sewage networks will take months, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

An American activist was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the town of Beita, in the occupied West Bank, during a weekly protest against settlement expansion, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The report said the 26-year-old woman was shot in the head, according to the report.

Medical sources said the activist was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus and placed in the intensive care unit before succumbing to her wounds.

Israeli forces used live ammunition, stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters, according to eyewitness reports. An 18-year-old Palestinian also suffered shrapnel wound to his thigh.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.