US Activist Killed by Israeli Fire Gets Buried as Israel Strikes Gaza

Israeli soldiers in Gaza / The AP
Israeli soldiers in Gaza / The AP
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US Activist Killed by Israeli Fire Gets Buried as Israel Strikes Gaza

Israeli soldiers in Gaza / The AP
Israeli soldiers in Gaza / The AP

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.



UN Names Former British Diplomat Tom Fletcher to Lead Aid Efforts

Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
TT

UN Names Former British Diplomat Tom Fletcher to Lead Aid Efforts

Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday appointed former British diplomat Tom Fletcher as the new aid chief for the world body amid worsening humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip, Sudan and elsewhere, largely driven by conflict.

Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.

Fletcher - who is currently the principal of Hertford College, Oxford - was the British ambassador to Lebanon from 2011-2015 and served as the foreign and development policy adviser to three British prime ministers between 2007-2011, the UN said in a statement.

He "has strong experience of leading and transforming organizations and bringing an understanding of diplomacy at the highest levels," the UN said.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said he did not know when Fletcher would take up the role.

The announcement comes as UN efforts to tackle humanitarian needs around the world are significantly underfunded.

The UN has appealed for $49 billion in 2024 to help 187.6 million of the people in need across 73 countries. But the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which Fletcher will lead, said on Wednesday that so far it has only received $16.21 billion.