- Berlin harshly criticizes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for standing next to a map showing West Bank as part of Israeli state, calling it 'unacceptable'

BERLIN

Germany on Monday deplored Israel’s killing of a Turkish-American peace activist in the West Bank.

"This is a terrible incident that needs to be clarified. The Israeli army and government are responsible for doing this," Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Christian Wagner said at a press conference in Berlin.

Eygi, 26, was shot by Israeli forces on Friday while participating in a demonstration against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita.

An autopsy report confirmed that she was killed by an Israeli sniper’s bullet to the head, Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas said on Saturday.

Eygi had been actively involved in solidarity movements supporting Palestinian rights. Her death has sparked outrage and calls for accountability from both the local and international communities.

Wagner also harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for standing next to a map showing the West Bank as part of the Israeli state.

"The map we saw behind the Israeli prime minister at the press conference is unacceptable," he said, adding that a two-state solution is “the way to resolve the Mideast conflict."

Last Monday, Netanyahu presented a map that erased the West Bank's borders, which Palestinians view as a clear declaration of Israel's annexation of the territory.

The Israeli army on Wednesday launched its largest military offensive in the northern West Bank in two decades, killing at least 33 people and wreaking havoc in the region.

The offensive came amid rising tensions in the occupied territory as Israel pressed ahead with its brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 of last year.

At least 685 people have since been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation followed a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice on July 19 that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.