The American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the family of the activist have strongly condemned the Israeli military after it claimed that an American activist killed in the West Bank last week was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by its forces.
The family of an activist and the American secretary of state vigorously attacked the military of Israel on Tuesday over its claims to have probably slain an American activist, who was killed in the West Bank last week, shot by its forces “indirectly and unintentionally”.
Israel said it had opened a criminal investigation into the killing of 26-year-old Seattle activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was participating in a protest against settlements. Eygi was also hit in the head, medics said.
In the wake of an Israeli investigation, Blinken criticized the death as “unprovoked and unjustified” during a question-and-answer session following a London press conference. Blinken told reporters, “No one should be shot while protesting.” “There are some significant adjustments that need to be made to the operations of the Israeli security forces in the West Bank.”
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“We are deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional,” a statement published by Eygi’s family in the United States said. “How little value this investigation puts on human life is horrifying.” Fighting broke out during Friday’s rally between Palestinians hurling stones and Israeli soldiers using tear gas and bullets, said Israeli protestor Jonathan Pollak, who saw Eygi shot.
At a news conference in London, Blinken denounced the killing as “unprovoked and unjustified” when asked to address the Israeli probe. “No one should be shot for attending a protest.” he said. “There are some significant changes that are needed in how the Israeli security forces are approaching activities in the West Bank.”
“We take deep offence to the implication that her death at the hands of a sniper could have been accidental in any way,” said a statement published by Eygi’s family in the United States. “How little regard for human life the investigation has is appalling.”. “It is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by (Israeli army) fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” said Israel’s report on the investigation into Eygi’s death. It expressed “deepest regret” over her death.
The activist group Egyi was volunteering for called International Solidarity Movement said the shot “was aimed directly at her” and that it “entirely rejects” the Israeli explanation.
The incident has taken place against the backdrop of a surge in violence in the West Bank since fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas at the beginning of last month. Israeli raids have increased, along with attacks by Palestinian militants against Israelis, attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and more forceful military suppression of Palestinian protests.
Israel says it holds people accountable, and investigates claims of its soldiers killing civilians. It says that when operating in areas where militants hide among civilians, soldiers are often forced to make split-second decisions. But human rights groups say troops are rarely charged with a crime and even in cases of the most egregious incidents – those that are caught on camera – they often receive light sentences.
The Palestinian Authority held a funeral march in Nablus for Eygi on Monday. At the request of her family, Turkish officials are working to repatriate her remains to Turkey for burial in the Aegean beach town of Didim.
“She did not declare that she would go to Palestine. She banned us from seeing her posting on social media, said Yilmaz Eygi.
International attention has focussed on a number of cases of U.S. citizen deaths in the West Bank. The best-known case is the shooting murder of the well-known American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin refugee camp in 2022.
An investigation by multiple independent investigators and reporting from the AP concluded Abu Akleh was likely killed by Israeli fire. Months later, the military said there was a “high probability” one of its soldiers had fatally shot her in error, but no one would be punished.
After being dragged from his car by Israeli military at a checkpoint and made to lie face-down, handcuffed, briefly gagged, and blindfolded, 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad suffered a heart attack in January 2022. The military said it would remove two commanders from their positions in leadership for two years and reprimand one but close the case without criminal charges.
The United States later abandoned its attempt to impose sanctions on a military unit responsible for the mistreatment of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Few killings of non-dual-nationality Palestinians gain such attention.
Human rights groups say there is a pattern of impunity in Israel’s military investigations into Palestinians’ killings. Leading Israeli watchdog B’Tselem grew so irate that in 2016 it suspended its decades-long practice of assisting investigations and called them a “whitewash.”
In 2020, an Israeli court cleared a paramilitary Border Police officer accused of reckless manslaughter in the shooting death of Eyad Hallaq, a Palestinian man with autism, in Jerusalem’s Old City. The case has drawn comparisons to US police death of George Floyd.
In 2017, Israeli soldier Elor Azaria killed a wounded and helpless Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron. A court found him guilty of manslaughter and put him in prison for nine months. The battlefield medic shot to death on camera Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who was lying motionless on the ground.
The Israelis were sharply divided over that incident: many, particularly on the nationalist right, sided with Azaria, accusing military chiefs of Monday-morning quarterbacking a soldier who had acted in life-threatening situations, while the military maintained that Azaria had clearly violated its code of ethics.
