The Israeli military on Tuesday said that it was “highly likely” one of its soldiers shot and killed an American activist in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but claimed it was “indirect and unintentional” despite it being a headshot, a claim backed by President Biden.
Aysenur Eyzi Eygi, 26, was killed on September 6 while protesting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank village of Beita. Her family responded to the Israeli military’s statement, calling it “wholly inadequate.”
The family said in a statement that they were “deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional. The disregard for human life in this inquiry is appalling.”
Later in the day, President Biden backed the Israeli claim. “Apparently, it was an accident — it ricocheted off the ground, and she got hit by accident. I’m working that out now,” he told reporters.
The statement from Eygi’s family added that the shooting “cannot be misconstrued as anything except a deliberate, targeted, and precise attack by the military against an unarmed civilian.”
The Israeli military claimed that the shot that killed Eygi was not aimed at her but the “key instigator” of a riot. However, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which organized the protest, said it was peaceful, and eyewitnesses said the protesters posed no threat to Israeli troops.
Eygi’s family reiterated a call for President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to order an independent investigation into the killing instead of letting Israel investigate itself. The State Department said Monday that it wasn’t conducting its own investigation of the incident.
At a press conference in London on Tuesday, Blinken said that “no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest.” He added that Israeli security forces “need to make some fundamental changes to the way they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.”
The comments marked Blinken’s harshest criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct, but there’s no sign the Biden administration is considering altering its policy of arming Israel. US military aid to Israel is key to sustaining the genocidal campaign in Gaza and also supports escalations in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.
