Israel acknowledged Tuesday that its forces had likely shot dead an American citizen near a demonstration last week in the occupied West Bank, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call for “fundamental changes” in the way the Israel Defense Forces operates there, “including changes to their rules of engagement.”
In a statement, the IDF said its initial inquiry found that it was “highly likely” that Aysenur Eygi, 26, had been “unintentionally” hit by fire “which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator” of what it called a “violent riot” in the West Bank village of Beita, where demonstrators had thrown rocks at security forces.
The statement said the military had launched a criminal investigation of the killing.
In one of the sharpest criticisms the Biden administration has made of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, Blinken said: “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.” He spoke during a news conference in London with Britain’s new foreign secretary, David Lammy.
“It’s not acceptable,” he said. “It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government.” He did not identify any specific changes the United States was prepared to make in policy toward Israel.
In a statement, the IDF said its initial inquiry found that it was “highly likely” that Aysenur Eygi, 26, had been “unintentionally” hit by fire “which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator” of what it called a “violent riot” in the West Bank village of Beita, where demonstrators had thrown rocks at security forces.
The statement said the military had launched a criminal investigation of the killing.
In one of the sharpest criticisms the Biden administration has made of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, Blinken said: “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.” He spoke during a news conference in London with Britain’s new foreign secretary, David Lammy.
“It’s not acceptable,” he said. “It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government.” He did not identify any specific changes the United States was prepared to make in policy toward Israel.
