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US government demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US citizen

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (L) and Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2013. (AFP)
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (L) and Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant give a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on December 18, 2013. (AFP)
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Updated 11 September 2024

US government demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US citizen

US government demands overhaul of Israeli conduct in West Bank after killing of US citizen
  • A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hard-line settler movement

LONDON/JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank as they decried the fatal shooting of an American protester against settlement expansion, which Israel said was accidental.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, who is also a Turkish national, was shot dead last Friday at a protest march in Beita, a village near Nablus where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Jewish settlers.




Turkish-American woman Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a graduate of the University of Washington, poses wearing her mortarboard and keffiyeh in a family photograph taken at the University of Washington's 2024 commencement ceremony, in Seattle, Washington, U.S,Ìę June 8, 2024. (REUTERS)

Israel’s military said on Tuesday that its initial inquiry found it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed her but that her death was unintentional, and it voiced deep regret.
President Joe Biden later told reporters “it ricocheted off the ground” and a US official said that was the conclusion of the Israeli investigation, the results of which were presented to the United States on Tuesday.

HIGHLIGHTS

‱ Eygi's family demands independent US investigation

‱ Blinken and Austin call Eygi's killing unprovoked and unjustified

‱ Israeli military says gunfire aimed at another individual

Palestinian officials say that Eygi was struck in the head.
Eygi’s family called Israel’s preliminary inquiry “wholly inadequate” and demanded an independent US investigation.
Hamid Ali, Eygi’s partner, in response to Biden’s comments, said her death “was no accident and her killers must be held accountable.”
“The White House has not spoken with us. For four days, we have waited for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing,” Ali said.
Blinken and Austin, in their strongest comments to date criticizing the security forces of Washington’s closest Middle East ally, described Eygi’s killing as “unprovoked and unjustified.” They separately said said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operated in the West Bank.


SPOTLIGHT

Killing of US-Turkish citizen shows high price of expressing solidarity with Palestinians in occupied West Bank


“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken told reporters in London.

“In our judgment, 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.
“Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable,” Blinken said.
An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment on Blinken’s remarks.
Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Pentagon said late on Tuesday, adding he expressed “grave concern for the IDF’s responsibility for the unprovoked and unjustified death” of Eygi. He also urged Gallant “to reexamine the IDF’s rules of engagement while operating in the West Bank,” according to the Pentagon.

Opinion

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The Israeli military earlier said an investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division was under way and its findings would be submitted for higher-level review once completed.
“We’re going to be watching that very, very closely,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, saying a criminal probe was an unusual step by Israel’s military.
“We’re going to want to see where it goes now in terms of the criminal investigation and what they find, and if and how anyone is held accountable,” Kirby added.

PRELIMINARY INQUIRY
In a statement, the Israeli military said its commanders had conducted an initial investigation into the incident and found that the gunfire was not aimed at her but another individual it called “the key instigator of the riot.”
“The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beita Junction,” it said.
Israel has sent a request to Palestinian authorities to carry out an autopsy, it said.
“We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional,” Eygi’s family said in a statement. A surge in violent settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the hard-line settler movement. Tensions have been heightened amid Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza.
Palestinians have held weekly protests in Beita since 2020 over the expansion of nearby Evyatar, a settler outpost. Ultra-nationalist members of Israel’s ruling coalition have acted to legalize previously unauthorized outposts like Evyatar, a move Washington says threatens the stability of the West Bank and undercuts efforts toward a two-state solution to the conflict.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, an area Palestinians want as the core of a future independent state.
Israel has built a thickening array of settlements there that most countries deem illegal. Israel disputes that assertion, citing historical and biblical ties to the territory.

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UEFA rolls out banner in support of children in war zones ahead of Super Cup

UEFA rolls out banner in support of children in war zones ahead of Super Cup
Updated 8 sec ago

UEFA rolls out banner in support of children in war zones ahead of Super Cup

UEFA rolls out banner in support of children in war zones ahead of Super Cup

UDINE, Italy: UEFA rolled out a banner with the message “Stop Killing Children. Stop Killing Civilians” ahead of the Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham on Wednesday.
It was laid out in front of the teams before kickoff in the match at Stadio Friuli in Udine, Italy.
“The message is loud and clear,” European soccer’s governing body said in a post on X. “A banner. A call.”
It comes a day after the UEFA Foundation for Children announced its latest initiative to help children affected by war in different parts of the world — a partnership with Medecins du Monde, Medecins sans Frontiùres and Handicap International.
They are charities “providing vital humanitarian help for the children of Gaza,” UEFA said in a press release Tuesday.
UEFA has supported projects regarding children affected in conflict zones in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine.
 


Trump warns of ‘very severe consequences’ if Putin continues Ukraine war

Trump warns of ‘very severe consequences’ if Putin continues Ukraine war
Updated 32 min 50 sec ago

Trump warns of ‘very severe consequences’ if Putin continues Ukraine war

Trump warns of ‘very severe consequences’ if Putin continues Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop his war in Ukraine after their Friday summit in Alaska, though he did not say what those consequences might be.

Trump’s comment came after a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told the group that Putin “is bluffing” about seeking peace.

“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the leaders had a “constructive and good” discussion with Trump.

Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday, where Kyiv and its allies are worried the two leaders may try to dictate the terms of peace in the 3-1/2-year war.

“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”

Trump and Putin meeting at an American military base this week allows them to avoid any protests and provides an important level of security.

That’s according to Benjamin Jensen, senior fellow for defense and security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

“For President Trump, it’s a great way for him to show American military strength while also isolating the ability of the public or others to intervene with what he probably hopes is a productive dialogue,” Jensen said.

He said the location means Trump can cultivate ties with Putin while “signaling military power to try to gain that bargaining advantage to make a second meeting possible.”


Trump orders easing of commercial spaceflight regulations, in boon to Musk’s SpaceX

Trump orders easing of commercial spaceflight regulations, in boon to Musk’s SpaceX
Updated 14 August 2025

Trump orders easing of commercial spaceflight regulations, in boon to Musk’s SpaceX

Trump orders easing of commercial spaceflight regulations, in boon to Musk’s SpaceX
  • The declaration also calls on the secretary to do away with “outdated, redundant or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to streamline federal regulation governing commercial rocket launches, a move that would benefit Elon Musk’s SpaceX and other private space ventures.
Trump’s order, among other things, directs the US transportation secretary to eliminate or expedite environmental reviews for launch licenses administered by the Federal Aviation Administration, the White House said in a statement.
The declaration also calls on the secretary to do away with “outdated, redundant or overly restrictive rules for launch and reentry vehicles.”
“Inefficient permitting processes discourage investment and innovation, limiting the ability of US companies to lead in global space markets,” the executive order states.
It added: “Overly complex environmental and other licensing and permitting regulations slow down commercial space launches and infrastructure development, and benefit entrenched incumbents  over new market entrants .”
Although Musk and Trump have remained embroiled in a high-profile feud for months, the billionaire entrepreneur’s SpaceX rocket and satellite venture potentially stands to be the single biggest immediate beneficiary of Trump’s order on Wednesday.
SpaceX, although not mentioned by name in the executive order, easily leads all other US space industry entities, including NASA, in the sheer number of launches it routinely conducts.
Musk has complained that environmental impact reviews and post-flight mishap investigations have repeatedly slowed down testing of SpaceX’s ambitious new Starship rocket vehicle, under development at the company’s South Texas launch facility.


At least 26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy

At least 26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy
Updated 13 August 2025

At least 26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy

At least 26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy
  • Italian coast guard: ‘Currently 60 people have been rescued and disembarked in Lampedusa, and (there are) at least 26 victims’
  • Giorgia Meloni: ‘When a tragedy like today’s occurs, with the deaths of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, a strong sense of dismay and compassion arises in all of us’

ROME: At least 26 migrants died Wednesday when two boats sank off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island, with around 10 others still missing, the coast guard and UN officials said.
Around 60 people were rescued after the sinkings in the central Mediterranean, a stretch between North Africa and Italy described by the UN as the world’s most dangerous sea crossing for migrants.
The two boats had left Tripoli, Libya, earlier in the day, according to the Italian coast guard.
It said one of the boats started taking on water, causing people to climb onto the other boat, which itself then capsized.
“Currently 60 people have been rescued and disembarked in Lampedusa, and (there are) at least 26 victims. The toll is still provisional and being updated,” the coast guard said in a statement.
Italy’s Red Cross, which manages Lampedusa’s migrant reception center, said the survivors included 56 men and four women, updating a previous toll of 22 dead.
Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the UN’s migration agency (IOM), said around 95 people had been on the two boats.
Given how many had been saved, “approximately 35 victims are feared dead or missing,” he wrote on social media.
Among the first to be transported to the Lampedusa mortuary were the bodies of a newborn, three children, two men and two women, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.
Lampedusa, just 90 miles (145 kilometers) off the coast of Tunisia, is often the first port of call for people trying to reach Europe in leaky or overcrowded boats.
In recent years, Italian authorities have sought to intercept the boats at sea before they arrive.
It was a helicopter from Italy’s financial police that spotted a capsized boat and several bodies in the water on Wednesday, about 14 nautical miles off Lampedusa, the coast guard said.
Five vessels were searching for survivors, including one from the EU’s Frontex border agency, alongside a helicopter and two aircraft, it said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her “deepest condolences” to the victims and vowed to step up efforts to tackle migrant traffickers.
Her hard-right government took office in October 2022 vowing to cut the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
As part of this, it has cut deals with North African countries from which migrants embark, providing funding and training in exchange for help in stemming departures.
“When a tragedy like today’s occurs, with the deaths of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, a strong sense of dismay and compassion arises in all of us,” Meloni said in a statement.
“And we find ourselves contemplating the inhumane cynicism with which human traffickers organize these sinister journeys.”
She said stepping up rescue efforts was not enough to tackle the scourge of trafficking, saying this could be done only by “preventing irregular departures and managing migration flows.”
The UNHCR refugee agency said Wednesday that there had been 675 migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route so far this year.
As of Wednesday, 38,263 migrants have arrived on Italy’s shores this year, according to the interior ministry.
A similar number was recorded at the same time last year, but the figure is significantly less than in 2023, when almost 100,000 people had arrived by mid-August.


Brother of Manchester suicide bomber charged over attack on jail guards

Hashem Abedi was charged with five offenses following an incident in April this year at HMP Frankland jail.
Hashem Abedi was charged with five offenses following an incident in April this year at HMP Frankland jail.
Updated 13 August 2025

Brother of Manchester suicide bomber charged over attack on jail guards

Hashem Abedi was charged with five offenses following an incident in April this year at HMP Frankland jail.
  • Hashem Abedi is accused of three counts of attempted murder, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of unauthorized possession of a knife

LONDON: A man who helped his brother plot a suicide bomb attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Britain in 2017 was charged on Wednesday with attempting to murder prison guards in the jail where he was being held.
Hashem Abedi, the elder brother of Salman Abedi who killed 22 people at the Manchester Arena in northern England, was charged with five offenses following an incident in April this year at HMP Frankland jail when four prison officers were injured, British police said.
He is accused of three counts of attempted murder, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of unauthorized possession of a knife. He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court on September 18.
Hashem Abedi was jailed for at least 55 years in 2020 after being convicted of helping his brother plan the attack which injured more than 200 and whose victims included seven children.
The brothers, born to Libyan parents who emigrated to Britain during the rule of late leader Muammar Qaddafi, had plotted the attack at their home in south Manchester, prosecutors said.