Family of American woman killed in West Bank blames Israel for her death, demands independent investigation

The family of an American woman shot dead during a protest in the occupied West Bank blamed Israel for her death and called for an independent investigation. The statement said an Israeli-led investigation would be insufficient.

Two eyewitnesses told CNN that Aysenur Eygi was shot in the head by Israeli forces responding to a protest near the city of Nablus. The 26-year-old was taking part in a weekly protest against an Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Beita, they added.

The Israeli military has admitted to shooting at protesters, and a US National Security Council spokesman said earlier that the US had contacted Israeli officials to “request an investigation into the incident”.

But on Saturday the family said that wasn’t enough.

“We welcome the White House’s condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur’s murder, an Israeli investigation will not be sufficient,” the statement said.

“We call on President (Joe) Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and ensure full accountability for those responsible.”

The statement also said that Eygi “was killed by a bullet that, as seen in the video, came from an Israeli soldier.”

Eygi was a mixed citizen of the United States and Turkey. U.S. officials are investigating the fatal incident, and the Turkish government has said it holds Israel responsible for her death.

Eygi, who graduated from the University of Washington this spring, had been a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the same pro-Palestinian activist group as Rachel Corrie, a U.S. citizen who was killed in 2003 as she tried to block an Israeli bulldozer trying to demolish Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the IDF said its soldiers “returned fire on the main instigator of the violence, who was throwing stones at the soldiers and posing a threat to them.”

The IDF “is investigating reports that a foreign citizen was killed as a result of shots fired in the area,” the statement added.

ISM said none of its members threw stones during the protest.

“Aysenur was more than 200 meters from where the Israeli soldiers were standing. There were no confrontations there in the minutes before she was shot,” the statement reads.

“Regardless, from that distance, neither she nor anyone else could have been perceived as posing any threat. She was killed in cold blood.”

“She was gentle and brave”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was working to “gather the facts” about Eyga’s killing and offered his condolences to her family – but did not suggest any immediate policy changes related to her death.

Even when it was determined that Israeli forces were responsible for the killings of Americans in the West Bank – for example, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – the United States did not change its policy and continued to provide those forces with significant military support.

National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said earlier that the U.S. was “deeply concerned” by Eygi’s killing. “We have reached out to the government of Israel to request more information and to open an investigation into the incident,” he added.

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew confirmed that Eygi, who was born in Turkey, was the victim and said the embassy was “urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death”.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned Eyga’s death, saying it held the Israeli government responsible and confirming that she was also a Turkish citizen. “We will continue to work to bring to justice those who killed our citizens,” spokesman Oncu Keceli said.

The family statement commemorated Eygi as an “extraordinarily committed human rights activist” who also actively participated in student protests on campus, “fighting for human dignity and calling for an end to violence against the Palestinian people.”

“Like the olive tree under which she lay, where she breathed her last, Aysenur was strong, beautiful and nourishing. Her presence in our lives was needlessly, illegally and violently taken away by the Israeli military,” the statement said.

“Aysenur was a loving daughter, sister, partner and aunt. She was gentle, brave, silly, supportive and a ray of sunshine.”

Protests in Beita are widespread. The Palestinian town is located next to a crumbling Israeli settlement known as Evyatar. The settlement was unauthorized by the Israeli state until it was legalized earlier this year. All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.

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