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.
Right. Just like when they unintentionally hit toddlers while aiming for a couple of feet tall “instigators”.
The toddler looked like they were reaching for a weapon ! I mean, it was just their wallet and it was dark and so was their skin color…
Head shots by a sniper are anything but accidental.
There’s no such thing as an accidental shot — sniper or not, head shot or not.
There are two kinds of firearm discharges:
1) Intentional; and
2) Negligent.
I agree with your two options. Having said that if the person hit was not the target of the round than hitting of that person is accidental.
Again, there are two kinds of firearms discharges: Intentional and negligent. When you pull a trigger you are wholly and entirely responsible for where the bullet goes.
Exactly … actually, one other kind: there are so many bullets fired that a few fly around and hit things they were not meant to. I guess this is a variant of negligible but seriously, is Biden saying that the Israeli sure-shots are either incompetent or negligent then??
What makes you think that sniper fired the round?
Would it matter if a lowly grunt in the IDF fired the round?
Yes, it does matter. Claiming a sniper kill her is the same as claiming she was targeted.
Then who was the person that fired the round aiming for? And she was targeted. Everyone in the West Bank and Gaza is targeted.
She shot herself.
Sure, like they "accidentally" drove a bulldozer over Rachel Corrie 20 years ago…
R.I.P. to the many people who have been killed trying to bring peace into the world.
Blessed are the peacemakers and witnesses of injustice …
Standing in front or near a bulldozer is never a good idea. But armored bulldozer like the D9 used by Israel is a very bad idea. Those dozers have very poor visibility. So odds of accidental death is very high.
A good lawyer does not ask a question for which they don't already know the answer.
A good operator does NOT move or swing when they are "in the blind" without a spotter OR without knowing FOR SURE their path or sweep is clear.
It is ALWAYS on the operator to watch for The Squishy Humans who, if not aware of machinery or construction operations, frequently walk themselves into danger zones.
Whoever ran the 'dozer that killed Corrie either knew there was "danger close", did not care if they killed someone, and both.
Nonsense. Standing in front of military dozer and assuming that they will see you is very stupid. She was hit by debris being pushed by the dozer. She was not run over, because a 100,000 + pound dozer running over her would turn her into a pancake. That fact she was still alive when she arrived at the hospital proves that.
Dozers are not Rollers.
Blade down, a Dozer pushes material ahead of itself, not running it over. That's why up-armoured Dozers are great for clearing landmines – the thick, heavy, curved blade both shields from & directs away the antipersonnel explosions and the Dozer and its tracks are behind it.
What you'll get with material in front of a Dozer is winnrows along the sides as excess material sluffs away to the sides, and a "churning" of material in the front as material pushes up the blade face and rolls over forwards on top of other material. Anyone pushing a snow-shovel has seen this effect.
Corrie was likely churned up in material, NOT tracked over.
Operator of that Dozer was STILL the one at fault.
Do you ever make yourself sick? Or don't you read your comments?
Nope it does not make be sick. But it makes you sick.
Those were rhetorical questions. I'd say you knew that, but I would be lying.
It really should sicken you.
That it doesn't, is a huge problem with YOU.
WITAS is so wrong in or with your life and your head that you can shrug off wanton murder of civilians by the IDF?
Thr bulldozer should not have been there in the first place. They were demolishing Palestinian homes in Gaza. Something like 2500 homes were destroyed in that area for the past three years when this occured. The protestors were wearing bright vests and using bullhorns.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2004/10/17/razing-rafah/mass-home-demolitions-gaza-strip
It is called a war. That is why the dozers were there. The protesters were told to leave, but they chose not to. Again standing in front of dozer to protest something in a war zone is very risky.
"During regular nighttime raids and with little or no warning, Israeli forces used armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers to raze blocks of homes at the edge of the camp, incrementally expanding a "buffer zone" that is currently up to three hundred meters wide.The pattern of destruction strongly suggests that Israeli forces demolished homes wholesale, regardless of whether they posed a specific threat, in violation of international law.In most of the cases Human Rights Watch found the destruction was carried out in the absence of military necessity."
-from link above
Construction vehicles are only war machines, Timothy, if commercial aircraft are ALSO legal, legitimate tools of war.
Our government has not done a d*mn thing to fully investigate the murder. Israel investigate? Itself?
The IDF truly take pride in their ability to murder for sport without any consequences. AIPAC sponsored, and supported via the "uni-party".
Nonesense and trash talks…! Israel is proven to kill women, children and men intentionally hundreds of times…!
But “Hamas” is everything: homes, schools, hospitals, tents, infants, children, the water, the sky, the ground, the thoughts….
From the year 2000 to 7Oct, the IDF killed 2300 Palestinian children.
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.
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.
Aiming for someone standing and the round ricochets off the gound??? Wow, a six-year-old child could see through that bullshit. Israel is thankful that Biden's mind isn't at that level.
Remarkable the IDF defense is we meant to kill a different peaceful civilian
Very remarkable. Admitted that malice was intended.
Jewish doctor, Dr. Perlmutter, who volunteered in Gaza said that he treated children (children!!) with a head shot and a body shot in the same child. He said only a sniper could have made those shots.
One shot
Two kills
So says the infamous tee-shirt handed out to IDF sniper school grads.
High velocity bullets can and sometimes do ricochet off the ground. Depending on what they hit and the angle. Have you not seen videos showing tracer rounds bouncing off the ground?
I bet you're a BIG Lee Harvey Oswald fan.
What the heck does Oswald have to do with the scientific fact that bullets can ricochet? Your comment makes no sense.
#1 – in fairness I did combine a Usual Suspects reference with a Reservoir Dogs reference. Not on you for missing it.
#2 – forensics would tell the tale. If anyone maintained a chain-of-custody on evidence. Which certainly they did not.
My Comment more suggests an increased likelihood of less-probable trajectories as the political need for them rises.
And I know you’ll reach to excuse anything the IDF or ASI commits.
The premise that Oswald was successful in his alleged shots that killed President Kennedy is full of holes. For one, when he was in basic training he barely qualified on the range with an M-1. The weapon of choice on that fateful day was an old Italian, bolt action, rifle.
What you are saying is facetious in its premise and laughable at its core.
So, there is a group of protesters (a "riot" according to Israel) and Israel is trying to shoot the "key instigator" and somehow the round made it to the ground and miraculously ricocheted into this woman's head? Nothing was in the way? No other bodies? It was a "riot" after all. I guess you rank with Biden in having a mind that pales in comparison to a six-year-old child if you believe that.
Sure it can happen. It is just a matter of bad luck.
Not under the circumstances Israel claimed. No way in hell.
I’ve seen tracer rounds bouncing off the ground after I’ve fired them.
Peace begins with each of us.
Just because a person is hit with a bullet in the head it does not mean they were shot by a sniper.
New line of defense. It wasn't a sniper. So, that means she didn't get a bullet in the head when someone other than a sniper was trying to shoot the "key instigator".
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Great job of making yourself sound like an idiot.
That’s true.
But in terms of probability, if someone is hit with a bullet in the head outside of an automatic “spray and pray” situation, it’s likely that the person firing the weapon was aiming at that person.
Two soldiers were on a roof shooting live rounds.
Mainstream media link for ya, Mr. Burns
https://apnews.com/article/american-shot-killed-west-bank-israel-palestinians-b2f1c741cea3d56eb1a339240dbf036e
"…President Biden backed the Israeli claim. “Apparently, it was an accident — it ricocheted off the ground…"
Good Hells – what is it with American Presidents and amazing, improbable bullet trajectories ???