More than 100 U.S. lawmakers are calling on Joe Biden’s administration to launch an independent investigation into the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish American activist shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, earlier this month.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland, a group of 103 lawmakers demanded a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into Eygi's killing.
"Given the evidence, we believe the U.S. must independently investigate whether this was a homicide," the letter reads. "To walk away without asking further questions gives Israeli forces unacceptable license to act with impunity. There must be accountability for Ms. Eygi's death."
"This investigation should include all evidence found and rationale for how findings were determined in a written report to the family," the letter added.
The letter was signed by prominent members of Congress, including Adam Smith, Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Barbara Lee, Jamaal Bowman, Ro Khanna, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch.
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 postmortem 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 and graduated in June from the University of Washington, 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.