Relatives of US Protester Killed by Israeli Forces Urge Blinken to Initiate Investigation

The relatives of a US-Turkish national who died after being shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank convened with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging a US inquiry into the incident. Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, aged 26, sustained a fatal head wound during a protest in the Palestinian village of Beita during September. While Israel has stated it is probing her demise, characterizing it as “unintentional” due to a ricocheted projectile, her family asserts that this assertion is refuted by existing evidence and testimonies from witnesses. Following his meeting with Mr. Blinken in Washington on Monday, Hamid Ali, Ms. Eygi’s widower, expressed that the family held little hope, stating they were “not optimistic” about achieving justice. Mr. Ali conveyed to the BBC, “He was very deferential to the Israelis,” adding, “It felt like he was saying his hands were tied and they weren’t able to really do much.” Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department, reported that Mr. Blinken extended his “deepest condolences” to the family during their discussion. Mr. Miller remarked, “It was a death that never should have happened,” and further stated, “He told them that Israel has told us in recent days that they are finalising their investigation.” When questioned by the BBC regarding the family’s discontent with the American government’s reaction, Mr. Miller affirmed, “We will demand answers from the government of Israel.” He also noted that the authority to initiate a criminal inquiry rests with the Department of Justice. Both Mr. Blinken and Attorney General Merick Garland, who leads the justice department, are scheduled to vacate their positions when Donald Trump assumes office as the subsequent US president in approximately one month. The locale where Ms. Eygi lost her life has historically been the setting for regular weekly demonstrations opposing the encroachment of an Israeli settlement outpost onto village territories. Ms. Eygi, a native of Seattle, had journeyed to the region to offer assistance to Palestinian villagers and to aid in recording the Israeli military’s reactions to their demonstrations, as stated by her family. She was participating in a protest alongside the International Solidarity Movement, an organization dedicated to championing Palestinian rights. This group reports that Ms. Eygi represents the 18th demonstrator killed by Israeli forces in Beita village since 2020. Lawyer Brad Parker informed the BBC that the family is requesting a US criminal inquiry and for the Department of State to obtain fundamental information from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), including the specific unit engaged and the commander’s identity. Mr. Parker stated, “The fact that they use live ammunition at protests at all has become normalised because there’s been so many deaths and so much killing, and Aysenur was a victim of that impunity.” Following Ms. Eygi’s death, the IDF asserted that its personnel had discharged weapons at an “instigator” involved in “violent activity” and were acting in self-defense against stone throwing. Subsequently, it indicated that it was “highly likely” Ms. Eygi was struck “indirectly and unintentionally” by IDF gunfire, which was not “aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot.” However, an Israeli activist who witnessed the event informed the BBC at the time that there was “no stone throwing” in her vicinity. This year, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories to be unlawful, asserting that Israel is obligated to terminate it with the utmost speed. Israel has dismissed this determination.