September 17, 2024
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli military said Tuesday that an American activist who was killed in the West Bank last week was likely shot “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli forces who were aiming at someone else.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old activist from Seattle who also held Turkish citizenship, was killed Friday following a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli protester who witnessed the shooting.
The Israeli military said it “expresses its deepest regret” after its inquiry “found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by (Israeli army) fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot.”
Pollak said the shooting occurred about half an hour after clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces had subsided.
Eygi, a volunteer with the activist group International Solidarity Movement, was attending a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion that has been held for years and has often brought Israeli crackdowns and protester stone-throwing.
The killing came amid a surge of violence in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, with increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and heavier military crackdowns on Palestinian protests.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the killing as “unprovoked and unjustified” while speaking Tuesday at a news conference in London.
The military says it thoroughly investigates allegations of killing civilians and holds its forces accountable. It says soldiers often have to make split-second decisions while operating in areas where militants hide among civilians.
