Justice remains elusive in Israel’s killing of Turkish American activist

Two years after Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi was shot during a protest in the occupied West Bank, her family says the case remains exactly where it began: without an investigation that could lead to justice.

“It’s exactly where it was on day one,” Eygi’s husband, Hamid Ali, told Anadolu Agency from his home in Seattle. “We’re still asking for the same thing, which is an investigation as a first step toward getting justice for her.”

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It’s exactly where it was on day one.

Eygi, a 26-year-old dual Turkish-U.S. citizen, was killed on Sept. 6, 2024, while taking part in a protest against Israeli settlement expansion in Beita, near Nablus. The Israeli military said she was hit “indirectly and unintentionally” by military fire that “was not aimed at her” as soldiers fired at protesters allegedly throwing rocks.

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We’re still asking for the same thing, which is an investigation as a first step toward getting justice for her.

Witnesses and Eygi’s family rejected that account and said she had been deliberately targeted during a peaceful protest. A Washington Post investigation reported that she was shot about 20 minutes after clashes had ended, when protesters had moved more than 200 yards, or 182 meters, away from Israeli forces. Then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the killing as “unprovoked and unjustified” days later.

Despite repeated calls from her family and members of Congress, the United States has not opened an independent investigation. Washington instead deferred to an Israeli inquiry that has produced no public finding. Eygi’s father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, said he had little hope that the United States would deliver accountability. “I don’t have much hope for justice because America is the financier of Aysenur’s killing. America therefore cannot investigate itself,” he told Anadolu Agency.

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Unprovoked and unjustified.

Brad Parker of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is part of the legal team supporting the family, said there had been no U.S. criminal investigation or other accountability measures. He said there was “absolutely no follow-up, no update.” DAWN says 14 U.S. citizens have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since 2003, and none of those cases has resulted in a criminal prosecution.

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I don’t have much hope for justice because America is the financier of Aysenur’s killing. America therefore cannot investigate itself.