Washington [US], September 11: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on September 10 asked Israel to make "fundamental changes" in its activities in the West Bank.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the request after the Israeli military admitted that their fire may have killed an activist, US citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (26 years old) while she participated in a protest in the Israeli-controlled West Bank , according to AFP.
After a measured initial response to Eygi's death on September 6, pending an investigation, Mr. Blinken said the United States would raise the issue at a high level with its key ally.
The investigation and witness accounts have made clear "that her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified. No one should be shot and killed for participating in a protest," Mr. Blinken told reporters during a visit to London.
"In our assessment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way they operate in the West Bank, including changing their rules of engagement. We have a second American citizen killed by Israeli security forces. That is unacceptable. It has to change," Mr. Blinken stressed.
However, US President Joe Biden later told reporters that Ms Eygi's shooting appeared to be an accident, without elaborating.
Ms Eygi, who also had Turkish nationality, was shot dead while taking part in a weekly protest against Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law but are supported by right-wing members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
The Israeli military said it had determined that "it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by fire from the Israel Defense Forces". The Israeli military insisted that its fire "was not directed at her, but at the main instigator of the riot".
According to the Israeli military, Ms Eygi was killed "during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and threw stones at security forces at the Beita Crossing".
Ms Eygi's family has rejected the Israeli military's version of events and called their preliminary investigation "completely inadequate".
"She was taking shelter in an olive grove when she was shot in the head and killed by a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier. This cannot be misinterpreted as anything other than a precise, targeted, deliberate attack on an unarmed civilian," they said.
Speaking alongside Mr Blinken, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy also expressed outrage at another Israeli attack on September 10 in a designated safe zone that officials in the Gaza Strip said killed 40 people. Israel said it targeted a Hamas command centre.
"We are meeting at a critical time, a critical time to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza, with the shocking deaths in Khan Yunis (in southern Gaza) this morning only reinforcing how essential that ceasefire is," Mr Lammy said.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
