A United States lawmaker on Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden’s administration for failing to act on an independent investigation into the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish American activist shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last month.
Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic representative from Washington's 7th Congressional District, also urged the U.S. government to demand accountability by stopping certain offensive military assistance to Israel.
"It has been 32 days since Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi was killed in the West Bank, and we have seen no movement toward an independent investigation by the U.S. government and no additional information on changes in the practices of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units that are using live ammunition on those who are peacefully protesting," Jayapal said in a statement.
Noting that she has had numerous briefings with State Department officials and has been in close touch with Eygi's family, she said: "I am frankly appalled with the lack of movement on this case."
"I have received no information that gives me any assurance that the killing of a U.S. citizen by the IDF is being treated with the urgency it deserves," she added.
Jayapal emphasized that Eygi's case is part of a troubling pattern.
"This is not the first time Israeli forces have killed U.S. citizens," she said, referencing the 2003 killing of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old peace activist from Washington state, in the West Bank.
She emphasized that the U.S. government also failed to act in that case despite widespread calls for an investigation.
Noting that three U.S. citizens have been killed in the West Bank in 2024, she stressed that U.S. citizens must be safe abroad, and if they are killed, the U.S. government "must act."
"The U.S. is the largest backer of military assistance to Israel. If the Israeli government is unwilling or unable to follow our own domestic laws as well as international humanitarian laws, we must demand accountability by stopping certain offensive U.S. military assistance," she said.
Jayapal and 102 other members of Congress had previously issued a joint statement urging the U.S. government to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of Eygi.
Eygi, 26, a dual Turkish-U.S. national, was killed by Israeli forces on Sept. 6 during a peaceful protest against illegal Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
A preliminary investigation by the Israeli army found that Eygi was "highly likely" hit "indirectly and unintentionally" by Israeli fire targeting a main instigator during the protest.
However, video evidence and eyewitness accounts have contradicted Israel's version of events. A recent report by The Washington Post 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.
A post-mortem examination of Eygi in Türkiye also said she was killed by a long-distance shot.
Eygi's family says she was killed in a targeted attack and is calling on the U.S. government to launch an independent investigation into her killing, similar to the one being conducted by the Turkish government.
Ankara said it would safeguard Eygi’s rights and would deliver a report and evidence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which would also be presented to the ongoing trial of Israeli perpetrators of crimes in Gaza at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Eygi, born in Antalya, Türkiye, in 1998, moved to the U.S. with her family when she was an infant. She graduated from the University of Washington in June, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures.
She went to the West Bank as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to support and safeguard Palestinian farmers and was killed by Israeli forces three days after her arrival.
