The US government has called for significant revisions in Israeli military procedures in the West Bank following the fatal shooting of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old US and Turkish citizen. Eygi was killed during a protest march in Beita, near Nablus, amid ongoing violence by far-right Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military expressed deep regret, stating that the gunfire was intended for another individual deemed “the key instigator of the riot,” not Eygi. However, US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, condemned the shooting as “unprovoked and unjustified.”
Eygi’s family has rejected the Israeli military’s explanation and is demanding an independent US investigation and accountability for her death. Blinken and Austin have called on Israel to revise its rules of engagement to better protect civilians exercising their right to protest.
This incident marks the second time an American citizen has been killed by Israeli security forces, further straining relations between the US and Israel. Eygi’s family expressed frustration over the lack of communication from the White House, despite President Joe Biden acknowledging the shooting as an accident. Eygi, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, was participating in a demonstration against Israeli settler expansion when she was killed.
The Israeli military has initiated a criminal investigation into the shooting, with the White House closely monitoring the situation as tensions rise over ongoing settler violence and the legal status of West Bank outposts.
