Biden condemns the ‘completely unacceptable’ death of an American activist killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank

Washington
CNN
—

President Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the death of American activist Aysenur Eygi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers during a protest in the occupied West Bank last week.

“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the shooting was “completely unacceptable.”

Biden called for “full accountability” for her death after Israel “acknowledged its responsibility.”

“A preliminary investigation has determined that this was the result of a tragic mistake that resulted from unnecessary escalation,” Biden said. “The U.S. government has had full access to Israel's preliminary investigation and expects to continue to have access as the investigation progresses so that we can have confidence in the outcome. We will continue to stay in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities to clarify the circumstances that led to Aysenur's death.”

Israel, he added, “must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

Vice President Kamala Harris called for “full accountability” in this matter.

“No one should be killed for participating in a peaceful protest. The shooting that resulted in her death is unacceptable and raises legitimate questions about the conduct of Israeli military personnel in the West Bank,” she said in a statement.

Eygi was born in Turkey, had recently graduated from the University of Washington and was a volunteer for the same pro-Palestinian activist group as U.S. citizen Rachel Corrie, who was killed in 2003 while trying to stop an Israeli bulldozer from demolishing Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, Israeli troops and settlers have killed nearly 700 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October. The figures do not distinguish between militants and civilians.

This statement comes just hours after Eygi's partner Hamid Ali released a strongly worded statement sharply criticizing the White House.

“The White House has not spoken to us. For four days we have been waiting for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing: to call us, express his condolences and tell us that he is ordering an independent investigation into Ayşenur's assassination,” Ali said.

In his first public comments on Eygi's death, Biden on Tuesday called the killing an apparent accident, citing preliminary Israeli investigations. Israel claimed that Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was “indirectly and unintentionally hit by Israeli fire” on Friday.

“We're finding out more details,” Biden told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. “Obviously it was an accident. It bounced off the ground and it – (she) was hit accidentally, but we're sorting that out now.”

The Israeli military had previously said that Eygi was killed in a “violent riot.” The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), for which Eygi was a volunteer, described the September 6 protests as peaceful.

US authorities have sharply criticized Israel for the death of Eygi, who was shot during a demonstration. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously said on Tuesday that her death was “unprovoked and unjustified” and called on Israel to make “fundamental changes” to its actions in the West Bank.

“Nobody, nobody should be shot for participating in a demonstration. Nobody should have to risk their life just for expressing their opinion,” he said. “Now we have the second American citizen killed by Israeli security forces. That is not acceptable. That must change. And we will make that clear to the highest ranking members of the Israeli government.”

This story and its headline have been updated with additional reporting.

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.