US presses Israel for answers in killing of Turkish-American activist

The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that Israel has informed the United States it is in the “final stages” of its investigation into the killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces during a protest in the occupied West Bank in September.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that the U.S. expects full transparency regarding the investigation. “We want to be briefed on the results of it. We want to know exactly what happened and why it happened and who was involved, and what Israel is doing to make sure such incidents don’t happen again,” Miller said during a briefing.

The U.S. has communicated to Israel that Eygi’s killing was “unacceptable” and “never should have happened,” Miller added. He underscored that Eygi, 26, was attending a peaceful protest at the time of her death. “We want to see answers. We want to give her family answers,” he said.

The remarks followed a meeting on Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Eygi’s family. Blinken met with the family to hear their concerns and demands for accountability, according to Miller. “They have a right to know, they have a right to demand accountability, and we share their demands for it,” he said.

Eygi’s family expressed frustration following the meeting, saying they had heard similar reassurances before. Hamid Ali, Eygi’s husband, compared the situation to the case of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Gaza in 2003.

“Secretary (Blinken) was attentive in listening to us and unfortunately repeated a lot of the same things that we’ve been hearing for the past 20 years,” Ali told reporters. “It’s frustrating to hear the same things again. We hope that things will be different this time around.”

The family has called for a U.S.-led investigation into Eygi’s death. “Our expectations are what they are,” Ali said, underscoring their desire for meaningful action.

Eygi’s sister, Ozden Bennett, questioned the credibility of the Israeli investigation and urged the U.S. to apply public pressure. “At this point, we did leave asking Secretary of State Blinken to push publicly and put pressure on the Israeli government at the very least to finish their investigation into my sister’s killing before the changeover in the administration,” Bennett said.

Eygi, a dual citizen of Türkiye and the United States, was killed on September 6 near Nablus during a protest against illegal Israeli settlements. Israel’s preliminary investigation concluded that Eygi was “highly likely” hit “indirectly and unintentionally” by fire targeting a protester who was allegedly throwing rocks. However, this version of events has been widely disputed.

Video evidence and witness accounts indicate that Eygi was directly targeted. A Washington Post investigation further revealed that she was shot more than 30 minutes after confrontations had peaked and about 20 minutes after protesters moved over 200 yards away from Israeli forces.

The incident has added to longstanding tensions surrounding Israel’s military actions in the West Bank and the response to civilian deaths. Eygi’s killing echoes previous cases that have drawn scrutiny, such as the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022.