US-Turkish activist shot ‘unintentionally’, says IDF

Chosen by us to get you up to speed at a glance
A US-Turkish activist who was shot dead during protests in the West Bank was killed “indirectly and unintentionally”, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.
An IDF inquiry into the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi concluded it was “highly likely” that the 26-year-old activist died on Friday in a riot in which “Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces”.
The IDF said it expresses its  “deepest regret” over Ms Eygi’s death.
Anthony Blinken, the US secretary of state, warned that her death shows Israeli forces needed to make “fundamental changes” to the way they operate in the West Bank.
“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest,” Mr Blinken told a joint news conference being held with David Lammy, the foreign secretary, in London.
Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, said his country would take “legal steps” to hold Israel to account over Ms Eygi’s death.
Thank you for following today’s live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.
We’ll be back soon with more updates and analysis.
The White House has said it will be “closely watching” Israel’s crminal investigation into the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank.
It follows the IDF’s inquiry finding that Ms Eygi had likely been “unintentionally” shot in the head during protests last week.
Israeli forces are close to completing their mission in Gaza and focus will soon turn to the country’s northern border with Lebanon, Israel’s defence minister said on Tuesday.
“The centre of gravity is moving northward, we are near to completing our tasks in the south, but our mission here is not yet done” Yoav Gallant told troops on Israel’s northern border.
The Foreign Office has announced a fresh wave of sanctions against Iran and Russia following the delivery of ballistic missiles that will be used against Ukraine.
Russian cargo ships have been sanctioned for their role in transporting military supplies from Iran to Russia.
Iran Air services into the UK and Europe will also be restricted, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday, with more sanctions to be imposed against Iranian and Russian individuals.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, originally from Turkey, grew up in Seattle after her family moved to the US when she was a child.
A graduate from the University of Washington, Ms Eygi, 26, was passionate about causes related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 
This led her to the West Bank, where last week she joined protests against Israel’s occupation.
It was during this protest that she was “highly likely” shot in the head by Israeli forces, according to an IDF inquiry which concluded on Tuesday.
“She was here supporting an occupied country despite not being from there,” said Azmi Miri, a trainee at the hospital where Ms Eygi was taken after she was shot.
Anthony Blinken confirmed on Tuesday that Russia had received a supply of close-range ballistic missiles from Iran for use in Ukraine.
Speaking alongside David Lammy in a joint press conference, the US secretary of state said the delivery constitutes a “dramatic escalation”.
“We’ve warned Tehran publicly, we’ve warned Tehran privately, that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation…Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles,” Mr Blinken said.
Mr Blinken revealed that the close-range Fath-360 ballistic missiles have a maximum range of 75 miles and would likely be used in Ukraine “within weeks”.
A senior Iranian official denied reports on Monday that the weapons had been delivered, describing them as “psychological warfare”.
It was also announced during the press conference on Tuesday that Mr Blinken and Mr Lammy will visit Ukraine together as Russia continues its advances in the eastern part of Donestk. 
The IDF claimed on Tuesday that it struck and killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.
Israeli forces said Mohammad Qassem Al-Sha’a was killed in the area of Qaraoun. 
“This elimination further impairs the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s ability to promote and conduct terrorist activities from southern Lebanon against the Israeli Homefront on the northern border,” a statement read.
The consequences of increasing cooperation between Russia and Iran go beyond the Middle East, Anthony Blinken has warned.
“This development and the growing cooperation between Russia and Iran threatens European security and demonstrates how Iran’s destabilizing influence reaches far beyond the Middle East,” Mr Blinken said.
Anthony Blinken has warned Israeli security forces they need to make fundamental changes to the way they operate in the West Bank after the “unprovoked and unjustified” killing of a US-Turkish pro-Palestinian activist.
“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest,” the US secretary of state told a news conference in London.
“In our judgement, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement,” he added.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot dead while protesting in the West Bank last week.
David Lammy has warned that a “troubling pattern” is emerging after Anthony Blinken confirmed that Russia had received a shipment of  Fath-360 ballistic missiles from Iran.
“This is a troubling pattern that we’re seeing from Iran. It is definitely a significant escalation and we are coordinating action. We have more to say on that very shortly,” Mr Lammy said.
David Lammy has reiterated that the situation in the Middle East has reached a “critical moment” as he said a ceasefire was “desperately needed” after Israel’s strike in Khan Younis overnight.
“We’re meeting at a critical moment – a critical moment for securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the shocking deaths in Khan Yunis this morning only reinforcing how desperately needed that ceasefire is,” Mr Lammy told a joint news conference with Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state.
Anthony Blinken has just said 90 per cent of the details that would make up a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas have already been agreed. 
But the US secretary of state said that the last 10 per cent of the deal is still being ironed out.
“We’re down to a handful of issues…that are hard but fully resolvable, in our judgement. As we’ve said before, when you get down to the last 10 per cent…those are almost by definition the hardest mound to cover,” Mr Blinken said.
He added that the US was working “intensely” with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to bridge any remaining gaps and that soon, a deal will be put before the parties. “We’ll see what they say,” he said.
David Lammy and Anthony Blinken have been giving a joint press conference in London this afternoon. 
We will bring you updates as they come in.
A campaign to vaccinate children against polio started in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
The campaign started in some areas in Jabalia and neighbourhoods in the eastern part of Gaza City.
There have not been any confirmed pauses in fighting in the northern part of the Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has claimed that at least 19 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a tent camp on Tuesday.
It is a revised death toll after Gaza’s civil defense initially said it had recovered the bodies of 40 people following the strike. 
Israel disputed the figures, saying it had killed three senior Hamas figures who were involved in the Oct 7 terror attacks.
Palestinians living in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in Khan Younis have been speaking after this morning’s deadly Israeli airstrike, which left a nine-metre crater in the ground.
“They said it was a safe area,” one resident decried.
“Displaced people came and we let them live in our homes. As long as it is safe, let them stay,” she continued.
“Look at what happened to them. I swear, there is no safe place.”
At least 40 people, including children, have been reported killed in Israeli strikes on a humanitarian zone housing displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, according to authorities in the Hamas-run strip.
The airstrikes struck a tent encampment in the area of al-Mawasi, a coastal community just west of Khan Younis, early on Tuesday, killing and injuring dozens.
The Israeli military described the strikes as hitting “significant Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command-and-control centre” and said its forces had used precise munitions, aerial surveillance and other means to avoid civilian casualties.
“The terrorists advanced and carried out terror attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel,” the statement said.
Hamas denied Israel’s allegations that gunmen existed in the targeted area and rejected accusations it exploited civilian areas for military purposes.
Footage circulating on social media showed deep craters at the site of the attack, the strewn ruins around it covered in shredded tents, a bicycle and other debris.
Rescue workers remain at the scene, using shovels and their bare hands to dig through the rubble to recover bodies.
Hamas no longer has any formal military capacity in Gaza, though fighters continue to engage in “guerilla warfare”, the Israeli defence minister has said.
Yoav Gallant said: “Hamas as a military formation no longer exists. Hamas is engaged in guerilla warfare and we are still fighting Hamas terrorists and pursuing Hamas leadership.
“We have eliminated two pillars of the Hamas leadership triangle – Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa. We have also destroyed more than half of the chain of command.”
Mr Gallant added that Israel remained “determined to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home”, while also identifying an “alternative” in Gaza that involves neither Hamas nor Israel governing.
Israel’s defence minister has offered his support for a hostage release agreement in the first phase of a Gaza truce deal, which he says would present Israel with a “strategic opportunity” to address other security challenges.
Bringing the hostages home is “the right thing to do,” Yoav Gallant said. 
“Achieving an agreement is also a strategic opportunity that gives us a high chance to change the security situation on all fronts,” he added.
Israeli missiles struck a tent camp near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza area of Al-Mawasi – a designated humanitarian zone.
Israel ordered the evacuation of all of northern Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war, which was triggered by Hamas’ terror attack on Oct 7, meaning most Palestinians moved south.
Turkey’s president said he is planning to take “legal steps” to hold Israel to account over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US-Turkish activist, who was shot dead while protesting in the West Bank last week. 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday: “We will take all legal steps to ensure that the blood of our daughter Aysenur does not remain unavenged.”
“We will undoubtedly continue our struggle with the State of Israel at the highest level, including by applying to the International Court of Justice.”
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK said Ms Eygi was shot in the head in Beita, near Nablus, on Friday.
Israel’s military said it was investigating the incident.
Islamist parties in Jordan are expected to benefit from public anger towards Israel in the country’s first parliamentary elections under a new law.
Polls opened on Tuesday two years after a new law was introduced to pave the way for parties to play a bigger role in Jordan’s political system. 
But the election is widely expected to keep its 138-seat parliament in the hands of pro-government factions.
However, Islamist parties represent the country’s largest opposition. Some of the biggest rallies of the campaign have been pro-Hamas, which seemingly reflects public opinion. 
A poll conducted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy towards the end of last year showed 85 per cent of Jordanians expressed a positive view of Hamas. This was a significant increase from the 44 per cent who did in 2020, before the latest war in Gaza.
The Israeli army has identified three Hamas fighters who were killed in the strike on what they described as a Hamas “command centre” in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
The fighters were: Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, head of Hamas’ aerial unit in Gaza, Osama Tabesh, head of the observation and targets department and Ayman Mabhouh, another senior Hamas commander.
The IDF said all three were “directly involved” in the Oct 7 massacre.
The military added that the casualty figure published by Hamas-run authorities in Gaza “does not align with the information held by the IDF, the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike”.
A full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon would have “catastrophic and unforeseen consequences,” a senior US official has said.
“There is an idea of ‘Let’s go to war and then we will destroy all the missiles Hezbollah has and everything will be fine.’ It’s not that simple. There is no magic solution. The other side cannot be annihilated,” the official was quoted as saying by an Israeli journalist.
“At the end of the war, Israel may pay a heavy price and not achieve its goals,” the official said.
“There is no war in lab conditions. It’s not a game. I don’t doubt the capabilities of the IDF, but we have to think about the fact that there will be serious consequences for both sides.”
Tensions have been rising between Israel and Hezbollah, which has supported Hamas since the Oct 7 attacks. On Monday, the Lebanon-based militant group launched drones and rockets at northern Israel. 
The IDF returned with strikes on military sites in southern Lebanon.
Witnesses of an Israeli airstrike in the Khan Younis area have described how Palestinians were left “buried in the sand” after the attack.
“The people were buried in the sand. They were retrieved as body parts,” Attaf al-Shaar, who was displaced from Rafah in southern Gaza, told the Associated Press.
The border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan – known as the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge – has reopened to travellers after a Jordanian truck driver killed three Israeli guards in the area on Sunday.
It remained closed to commercial activity, the Israel Airports Authority said on Tuesday morning.
Moving away from the Gaza strip, the IDF has said its fighter jets carried out overnight attacks against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The IDF said it struck military buildings in Aita al-Shaab, Khiam and Naqoura areas of southern Lebanon. It also attacked Naqoura area with mortar fire.
It comes amid increasing tensions between the two countries. On Monday, member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling party said full-on war between Israel and Lebanon will take place in “a matter of days”.
Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, a former member of Mr Netanyahu’s war cabinet, urged Israel to shift its focus away from Gaza and towards Hezbollah and Lebanon.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations relief agency, has said a convoy of UN vehicles and staff reportedly “detained” at gunpoint in Gaza by Israeli forces have been released after eight hours.
The Israeli military claimed it “struck significant Hamas terrorists” who were operating within a command-and-control centre embedded inside the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis.
However, Hamas denied allegations that gunmen existed in the targeted area.
“This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes,” Hamas said in a statement.
“The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or using these places for military purposes.” 
Residents and medics said the tent encampment was struck by at least four missiles. 
The Gaza civil emergency service said at least 20 tents caught on fire and missiles caused deep craters.
It said the victims included women and children, but did not provide a breakdown of deaths and injuries.
“Our teams are still moving out martyrs and wounded from the targeted area. It looks like a new Israeli massacre,” a Gaza civil emergency official said.
The Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run government, said it had recovered 40 bodies, adding that entire families had been killed in the strikes as they huddled in tents.
First responders and displaced people were sifting through the sand and rubble with garden tools and their bare hands overnight, using the lights on their mobile phones to help guide them. They still remain at the scene this morning.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, one of three hospitals to receive casualties, said around two dozen bodies had been brought in following the attack.
Israel has struck the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza, killing and injuring dozens of people, authorities said on Tuesday.
The tented encampment is home to many Palestinians displaced by the Israel-Hamas war.
The Israeli military said it used “precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional means” to limit civilian casualties.
Good morning and welcome to today’s live blog. 
We will be bringing you the latest from the Middle East after an Israeli airstrike hit a humanitarian area in the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding dozens.