WASHINGTON: The family of a Turkish-born American human rights activist killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank pleaded with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday for a US probe into her killing but got no promises, the woman’s husband said.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot dead on Sept. 6 as she took part in a protest march in the town of Beita against Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with the top US diplomat, Hamid Ali said Blinken was attentive but gave no assurances that Washington would carry out its own investigation and urged Eygi’s relatives to wait for Israel to finish its inquiry.
“He was very deferential to the Israelis,” Ali said of Blinken. “It felt like he was saying his hands were tied and they weren’t able to really do much.”
There was no clear timeline on when Israel would conclude its investigation, Ali said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken told the family that Israel had informed the United States in recent days that it was finalizing their probe and that the State Department would promptly share any findings with the family.
“With respect to a United States investigation... that would be in the remit of the Justice Department,” Miller said.
Israel has acknowledged its troops shot Eygi, but says it was an unintentional act during a demonstration that turned violent. Her family believes she was targeted as an activist.
Although Washington has criticized Eygi’s killing and a surge of attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank as Israel wages war on the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza, the US has announced no major policy change toward Israel.
The International Court of Justice and most countries say Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal. Israel denies this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area.
Family of Aysenur Eygi says Blinken offers no prospect of US inquiry into killing
https://arab.news/2zprx
Family of Aysenur Eygi says Blinken offers no prospect of US inquiry into killing
- Hamid Ali said Blinken was attentive but gave no assurances that Washington would carry out its own investigation
- “He was very deferential to the Israelis,” Ali said of Blinken
Syria says detained senior Daesh jihadist in Damascus
- The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers
DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities have arrested a senior Daesh group official in the Damascus region in a joint operation with a US-led international coalition, a security official said on Wednesday.
Taha Al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an Daesh leader in Damascus, was detained with several of his men, General Ahmad Al-Dalati was reported as saying by state news agency SANA.
The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and a US civilian that Washington said was carried out by a lone Daesh gunman in central Syria’s Palmyra.
“Our specialized units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Directorate and and International Coalition forces, carried out a precise security operation targeting” an Daesh hideout, Dalati said.
On December 20, a Syria monitor said that five Daesh members were killed in US strikes in retaliation for the December 13 attack.
It was the first such incident since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and Syrian authorities said the perpetrator was a security forces member who was due to be fired for his “extremist Islamist ideas.”
