US Secretary of State Antony Blinken slammed the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-US activist with the anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who was killed last week during IDF clashes with rioting Palestinian Authority Arabs.
Speaking during a joint news conference in London with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Blinken said the US intends to “make clear” to the “senior-most members” of the Israeli government that the death of American citizens “at the hands of Israeli security forces” is “not acceptable” and “has to change.”
Blinken’s comments followed question about the US response to the initial findings of an IDF investigation into the incident, that had been released a few minutes earlier.
“An inquiry has been conducted by IDF commanders into the incident in which a foreign national, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was killed at the Beita Junction in Samaria last Friday,” the IDF wrote in a statement revealing the initial findings.
“The inquiry found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the IDF said. “The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beta Junction.
“Following the incident, an investigation was launched by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID). The findings will be submitted for review by the Military Advocate General’s Corps upon its conclusion. Israel has sent a request to carry out an autopsy,” the IDF added, expressing its “deepest regret” over the activist’s death.
But Blinken wasn’t having it.
“With regard to the tragic killing of Isinor, I think what we saw in this investigation is it seems to show what eyewitnesses have said and made clear — that her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified.
“No one — no one — should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken said.
“In our judgement Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.
“We’ve long seen reports of the security forces looking the other way when extremist settlers use violence against Palestinians. We’ve seen reports of excessive force by Israeli security forces against Palestinians.
“And now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change — and we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government.
Now, we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation,” Blinken added, “but even on an initial read, and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with, and we will insist that they be dealt with.”
