LONDON: Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s death was the result of a “mischaracterization” of events by Israeli forces, raising fresh doubts about the official account, according to an investigation by the Washington Post.
Eygi was fatally shot in the head in early September while participating in a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Although Israeli authorities initially described her death as likely “indirect and unintentional,” the Post’s investigation, based on 13 eyewitness testimonies and over 50 videos and photos provided by the International Solidarity Movement, paints a different picture.
The report indicates that the protests had largely subsided before Israeli soldiers opened fire.
Eygi was shot roughly 30 minutes after the height of confrontations, and about 20 minutes after protesters had retreated down the main road, some 200 yards (183 meters) away from Israeli forces.
Eygi herself had withdrawn to an olive grove far from the soldiers, approximately 180 meters away, before being struck by a bullet.
Witnesses claimed that a Palestinian teenager standing about 18 meters away from Eygi may have been the intended target of Israeli fire.
The Israeli army declined to comment on the investigation.
According to one of her colleagues, Eygi had explicitly decided beforehand she did not want to be “near any action.”
The report described chaotic scenes of violence following Friday prayers in the town of Beita, near Nablus, in the West Bank.
After young Palestinians erected barricades and threw rocks, Israeli soldiers responded with teargas and live ammunition.
Eygi, however, had moved to an olive grove far from the confrontation when she was hit by the fatal bullet.
The Post’s findings cast doubt on the justification for using live fire in this case, highlighting concerns about the broader use of excessive force by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.
Israeli rights groups have noted that soldiers are often given broad discretion to open fire, even based on perceived future threats from suspects.
The incident has prompted international criticism, including from US President Joe Biden, who expressed sadness and anger over the death, though he echoed the Israeli account that the shooting was accidental.
Eygi’s family, however, has rejected this explanation, accusing the US government of accepting Israel’s narrative without independent investigation.
“President Biden is still calling her killing an accident based only on the Israeli military’s story. This is not only insensitive and false, it is complicit in the Israeli military’s agenda to take Palestinian land and whitewash the killing of an American,” the family said in a statement earlier this week.
Tensions between the US and Israel have grown more strained in recent months, particularly as violence in the West Bank has surged since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks.
At least 634 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during this period, according to the UN.
