Israel has conceded that it’s “highly likely” its troops were the ones who “unintentionally” killed an American activist shot in the head in a West Bank protest, leaving President Biden “outraged” Wednesday.
An investigation into last Friday’s death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, “found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by (Israeli Defense Forces) fire,” the IDF said Tuesday.
The gunfire “was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the military said of “a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces.”
“The IDF expresses its deepest regret over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi,” the statement concluded.
Biden responded Wednesday by saying he was “outraged and deeply saddened.”
“The shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable,” he said of the Turkish-American citizen expressing her right to protest the expansion of the West Bank settlements.
“Israel has acknowledged its responsibility for Aysenur’s death, and a preliminary investigation has indicated that it was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation,” the president said Tuesday.
“The US government has had full access to Israel’s preliminary investigation, and expects continued access as the investigation continues, so that we can have confidence in the result,” he added.
“There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”
Biden ultimately described Aysenur as yet another instance of the violence that has gone on in the West Bank for far “too long.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also condemned the shooting, saying it raised concerns over the IDF’s conduct in the West Bank.
“Aysenur was peacefully protesting in the West Bank – standing up against the expansion of settlement – when her young life was senselessly cut short,” Harris said Wednesday. “No one should be killed for participating in a peaceful protest.
“The shooting that led to her death is unacceptable and raises legitimate questions about the conduct of IDF personnel in the West Bank,” she added. “Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”
Like Biden, Harris demanded full accountability against those stoking violence in the West Bank.
Eyig was shot in the head last Friday while protesting in the Israeli-occupied town of Beita.
Her family in the US released a statement saying they were “deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional.”
International Solidarity Movement, the activist group Egyi was volunteering with, also said it “entirely rejects” the Israeli statement — insisting the “shot was aimed directly at her.”
With Post wires
