Israeli airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza overnight into Saturday, killing at least 14 people as friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli soldier honored her in a funeral.
In Türkiye, activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the 26-year-old from Seattle who held US and Turkish citizenships, was laid to rest in her hometown in the town of Didim on the Aegean Sea.
The Israeli military has said that Eygi was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Sept. 6. Türkiye announced it will conduct its own investigation into her death. An Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting said she was killed after a demonstration against Israeli settlements, The AP reported.
“We are not going to leave our daughter’s blood on the ground and we demand responsibility and accountability for this murder,” Numan Kurtulus, the speaker of Türkiye's parliament, told mourners.
Eygi's body had been earlier brought from a hospital to her family home and Didim's Central Mosque. Thousands of people bid her farewell in the town's streets, which were lined with Turkish flags.
Her death was condemned by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the United States, Egypt and Qatar push for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israel and Hamas accuse each other of making new and unacceptable demands.
This came as airstrikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including three women and four children, and another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis with Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Civil Defense said Saturday. They followed airstrikes earlier this week that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a United Nations school sheltering displaced on Wednesday.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times, and plunged the territory into a severe humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began.
