Middle East updates: Guterres condemns killing of UN staff

Turkey announced on Thursday that it opened an investigation into the death of a Turkish-American activist believed to have been shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi's body will arrive in Turkey on Friday, the country's Foreign Ministry said with her father saying a funeral had been set for Saturday in the Turkish Aegean coastal city of Didim.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the Ankara chief prosecutor's office was investigating "those responsible for the martyrdom and murder of our sister Aysenur Ezgi Eygi".

He said that Turkey had evidence regarding the shooting and would request international arrest warrants.

Israel's army said it was highly likely its troops had fired the shot that killed Aysenur last Friday while taking part in a protest against Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank, but that her death was unintentional.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Foreign Ministry claimed Eygi "was deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli soldiers during a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians."

Turkey's government has repeatedly criticized Israel in sharp terms in recent months for its military actions in Gaza and on other issues.

The head of the elite intelligence unit of Israeli army will resign over the failure to prevent Hamas's October 7 terror attack, the army announced on Thursday.

Yossi Sariel headed up the 8200 unit, which oversees decoding and analyzing intercepts and other signals intelligence.

"The commander of the 8200 unit, [Brigadier General] Yossi Sariel, has informed his commanders and subordinates of his intention to end his position," the army said in a statement. "The officer will conclude his role in the near future."

Israeli media on Thursday broadcast a copy of Sariel's resignation letter in which he asked for "forgiveness" for "not fulfilling the mission we were entrusted with" on October 7.

In June, public broadcaster Kan disclosed an intelligence brief prepared by the 8200 unit in September 2023 which warned military officials of Hamas's preparations for the attack, and detailed some of its plans.

In April this year, the commander of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate, Major General Aharon Haliva, announced his resignation over the failure to foil the attack.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that it transported 97 people out of Gaza — the largest medical evacuation in the territory since October 7.

The evacuated patients were suffering from a wide range of diseases including cancer, blood and liver diseases, and serious trauma. Around half of them were children.

The patients were evacuated first by road, and then by air from Israel's Ramon airport to the United Arab Emirates for treatment.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the success of a "highly complex operation... despite severe operational challenges and insecurity."

"Ultimately, the best care for all patients is a ceasefire," he added.

The war between Israel and Hamas has decimated the healthcare system in Gaza, with 17 out of the territory's 36 hospitals partially functional.

The WHO said more than 10,000 people in Gaza were still awaiting medical transfer.

"Gaza needs medical corridors. We need a better organized and sustained system," said Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative for the Palestinian territories.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has urged Israel and Lebanon to deescelate tensions along their border.

"Since I lasted visited Lebanon in January the drums of war have not stopped pounding," Borrell told reporters in a joint press conference with Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib in Beirut.

"Since then the fears I was outlining have been growing, more escalation, fears of a spillover of the war in Gaza and fears of more widespread human suffering."

Borrell added: "We need to deescalate military tensions and I use this opportunity to urge all sides to pursue this path."

The World Health Organization said Thursday it was "confident" it had reached its target of vaccinating more than 90% of children under 10 in Gaza against polio.

Disease has spread in Gaza since Israel's military offensive in the territory. Earlier this year, health workers confirmed the first case of polio in 25 years.

The WHO estimated that 552,451 children have received their first dose of a polio vaccine as of Wednesday.

"We are happy with this polio campaign and also quite confident that we reached an enormous amount of children in this short time. We are confident we reached the target of 90%," Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative for the Palestinian territories, told reporters.

The interior minister of the German state of Brandenburg banned an Islamic center on Thursday over alleged ties to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, the EU, Germany and others.

"The Islamic Center Fürstenwalde is associated with the Islamist terrorist group Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," Michael Stübgen said in a statement.

"The organization acts against the free democratic order, spreads anti-Semitic narratives and denies Israel's right to exist. We cannot accept that."

Police searched the organization's premises in Fürstenwalde, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south-east of Berlin, where they seized laptops and "a considerable amount of cash," according to Stübgen.

The Islamic Center Fürstenwalde (IZF) was founded in 2018 and operates the al-Salam Mosque. It also provides a veriety of services for Muslims in the area.

However, Brandenburg intelligence chief Joerg Mueller said there was a danger that Muslims could be "directly exposed to extremist attitudes and Islamist ideology through the work of the association."

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said it was "unacceptable" that US citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed in the occupied West Bank. Israel has taken responsibility for the death of the 26-year-old.

"There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again," Biden said in a statement.

"The shooting that led to her death is unacceptable and raises legitimate questions about the conduct of IDF (Israel Defense Forces) personnel in the West Bank," Harris said in a separate statement.

Eygi, who also holds Turkish citizenship, was shot dead at a protest near Nablus, where Palestinians have been repeatedly attacked by far-right Israeli settlers.

The Biden administration gave the green light for the US to provide Egypt with $1.3 billion (€1.18 billion) in military aid, despite concerns of human rights violations under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. 

The US State Department said it has notified US Congress about its intention to do so.

The US typically earmarks $1.3 billion in aid every year for Egypt but has diverted or withheld millions every year over human rights conditions that Egypt's government failed to meet.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress on Wednesday that he would waive a certification requirement on $225 million related to Egypt's human rights record this year, due to "the US national security interest."

The US is banking on Egypt to secure a cease-fire deal and an agreement to release hostages held by militants in Gaza. 

Egypt has been accused of sweeping human rights violations including concerns about forced disappearances. El-Sissi has denied these claims, saying security is his priority.

Nevertheless, Egypt has good relations with the US.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that Israeli airstrikes on a UN shelter killed six staff members from the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).

The strikes on Wednesday hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families as well as two homes. The strikes killed dozens, according to hospital officials.

"These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now," Guterres said in a post on X.

The UNRWA had separately posted about the incident on X too, saying it was the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.

"This school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to around 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children," UNRWA said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the strikes on Thursday, saying it had "conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command-and-control center."

Israel's war against Hamas is now in its 11th month. They began last year after Hamas, classified a terrorist organization by many governments including the US and Germany, launched attacks on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people there.

tg/rm (Reuters, AP)