The Secretary "repeated a lot of the same things that we've been hearing for the past 20 years, particularly since Rachel Corrie’s killing," says Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi's husband.
An Israeli sniper shot Eygi on September 6 during a peaceful protest against illegal Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. / Photo: AP
The family of Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in September, have said it was "frustrating to hear the same things" without meaningful action after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Monday's meeting comes as the family continues to urge the Biden administration to launch an independent investigation into her killing, which evidence shows to be deliberate.
"Secretary was attentive in listening to us, but unfortunately repeated a lot of the same things that we've been hearing for the past 20 years, particularly since Rachel Corrie’s killing," Eygi's husband, Hamid Ali, said following the meeting at the State Department.
23-year-old American Rachel Corrie was killed in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in the southern town of Rafah in Gaza.
A similar context surrounds 26-year-old Eygi's death. An Israeli sniper lethally shot her on September 6 during a peaceful protest against illegal Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Eyewitness accounts and autopsies conducted by Turkish and Palestinian authorities point to a targeted strike.
"We hope that things will be different this time around," Ali said, proceeding to express that the family doesn't have high expectations.
No accountability
Ozden Bennet, Eygi's sister, said the US is still awaiting an Israeli investigation, which the family does not find "credible".
The family left the meeting requesting Washington to "put pressure on the Israeli government to at the very least finish their investigation into my sister's killing before the change-over in the administration," Bennett said.
She noted that before Monday's meeting at the State Department, no one from the White House or the Biden administration had contacted the family to offer condolences, despite news reports that suggested they had been in contact.
The US has called on Israeli authorities to conduct a "swift, thorough, and transparent investigation" into Eygi's killing three months ago, but no accountability has been achieved to date as the investigation is still ongoing.
A preliminary investigation by Israel found that Eygi was "highly likely" hit "indirectly and unintentionally" by Israeli fire that was targeting a "main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks" during the protest.
Video evidence and witness accounts, however, have contradicted Israel's version of events, with many saying an Israeli sniper directly hit her as she was standing away from the protest area.
A report by The Washington Post also revealed that Eygi was shot more than 30 minutes after the peak of confrontations in Beita and about 20 minutes after protesters had moved over 200 yards down the main road, away from Israeli forces.
Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation on September 11 into the killing of Eygi, who was laid to rest in the town of Didim in western Türkiye after her body was repatriated.
Family of US protester killed by Israeli forces presses Blinken for investigation
Tom Bateman
Tom Bateman
BBC
State Department correspondent reporting from Washington
Reuters
Person holds poster featuring Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi
The family of a US-Turkish woman killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank met Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call for a US investigation.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head as she took part in a demonstration in the Palestinian village of Beita in September.
Israel has said it is investigating her death, describing it as "unintentional" from a ricocheted bullet, but the family says this claim is contradicted by the available evidence and eyewitness accounts.
After meeting Mr Blinken in Washington on Monday, Ms Eygi's widower Hamid Ali said the family was "not optimistic" that justice would be served.
"He was very deferential to the Israelis," Mr Ali told the BBC. "It felt like he was saying his hands were tied and they weren't able to really do much."
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Mr Blinken offered the family his "deepest condolences" during the meeting.
"It was a death that never should have happened," Mr Miller said. "He told them that Israel has told us in recent days that they are finalising their investigation."
Pressed by the BBC over the family's dissatisfaction with the US response, Mr Miller said: "We will demand answers from the government of Israel."
He added that any decision on opening a criminal investigation would fall to the Department of Justice.
Both Mr Blinken and the justice department's head, Attorney General Merick Garland, will step down when Donald Trump is inaugurated as the next US president in roughly a month.
The area in which Ms Eygi was killed has long been the site of weekly protests against expansion into village lands of an Israeli settlement outpost.
Ms Eygi, who grew up in Seattle, had travelled to support Palestinian villagers and help document Israeli military responses to their protests, according to her family. She was demonstrating with the International Solidarity Movement, a group which advocates for Palestinian rights. The group says Ms Eygi was the 18th protester killed by Israeli forces in the village of Beita since 2020.
The family is calling for a US criminal investigation and for the Department of State to acquire basic details from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) such as the unit involved and the identity of the commander, lawyer Brad Parker told the BBC.
"The fact that they use live ammunition at protests at all has become normalised because there's been so many deaths and so much killing, and Aysenur was a victim of that impunity," said Mr Parker.
The IDF said after Ms Eygi's death that its forces had fired at an "instigator" of "violent activity" and were defending themselves from stone throwing.
It later said it was "highly likely" Ms Eygi was hit "indirectly and unintentionally" by the IDF fire, which was not "aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot."
An Israeli activist who was present told the BBC at the time there was "no stone throwing" where she had been.
The International Court of Justice this year judged Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal and said it was under an obligation to end it as rapidly as possible. Israel has rejected the finding.
State Department correspondent reporting from Washington
ReutersPerson holds poster featuring Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi
The family of a US-Turkish woman killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank met Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call for a US investigation.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head as she took part in a demonstration in the Palestinian village of Beita in September.
Israel has said it is investigating her death, describing it as "unintentional" from a ricocheted bullet, but the family says this claim is contradicted by the available evidence and eyewitness accounts.
After meeting Mr Blinken in Washington on Monday, Ms Eygi's widower Hamid Ali said the family was "not optimistic" that justice would be served.
"He was very deferential to the Israelis," Mr Ali told the BBC. "It felt like he was saying his hands were tied and they weren't able to really do much."
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Mr Blinken offered the family his "deepest condolences" during the meeting.
"It was a death that never should have happened," Mr Miller said. "He told them that Israel has told us in recent days that they are finalising their investigation."
Pressed by the BBC over the family's dissatisfaction with the US response, Mr Miller said: "We will demand answers from the government of Israel."
He added that any decision on opening a criminal investigation would fall to the Department of Justice.
Both Mr Blinken and the justice department's head, Attorney General Merick Garland, will step down when Donald Trump is inaugurated as the next US president in roughly a month.
The area in which Ms Eygi was killed has long been the site of weekly protests against expansion into village lands of an Israeli settlement outpost.
Ms Eygi, who grew up in Seattle, had travelled to support Palestinian villagers and help document Israeli military responses to their protests, according to her family. She was demonstrating with the International Solidarity Movement, a group which advocates for Palestinian rights. The group says Ms Eygi was the 18th protester killed by Israeli forces in the village of Beita since 2020.
The family is calling for a US criminal investigation and for the Department of State to acquire basic details from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) such as the unit involved and the identity of the commander, lawyer Brad Parker told the BBC.
"The fact that they use live ammunition at protests at all has become normalised because there's been so many deaths and so much killing, and Aysenur was a victim of that impunity," said Mr Parker.
The IDF said after Ms Eygi's death that its forces had fired at an "instigator" of "violent activity" and were defending themselves from stone throwing.
It later said it was "highly likely" Ms Eygi was hit "indirectly and unintentionally" by the IDF fire, which was not "aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot."
An Israeli activist who was present told the BBC at the time there was "no stone throwing" where she had been.
The International Court of Justice this year judged Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories illegal and said it was under an obligation to end it as rapidly as possible. Israel has rejected the finding.
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