Israeli authorities told the US government that they are in the final stages of an investigation into the killing of Turkish-American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in September, the State Department said on Monday.
Eygi, a 26-year-old Seattle resident and a new graduate of the University of Washington, was fatally shot by Israeli forces during a protest in the West Bank against illegal Israeli settlements on September 6 amid Israel’s war in Gaza.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller’s remarks came during a briefing at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center, following a meeting between the family of Eygi and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday.
When asked about the details of the meeting and the family’s demand for an independent US criminal investigation into the killing, Miller said Blinken told the family that Israel has informed them in recent days that they “are finalizing their investigation into the matter” and that the family will be informed as soon as the US administration gets the results of the investigation.
Miller said Blinken once again offered his deepest condolences to the family for Ayşenur’s death and described it as a death “that never should have happened, as he has said previously.”
With regards to the prospects of the launch of an independent investigation into Eygi’s killing by the US, Miller said it’s not a matter that the State Department can undertake but that such an action can be taken by the Justice Department.
“We have an independent Justice Department for a reason inside our government. So it’s ultimately something for the Justice Department to speak to, and the State Department can’t – can’t speak on behalf of an independent law enforcement agency as to what they may be doing or what they might – might do or might not do,” he explained.
Eygi’s family members, sister Özden Bennett and widower Hamid Ali, expressed frustration after meeting with Blinken on Monday, saying they heard the “same things” without meaningful action, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
“Secretary [Blinken] was attentive in listening to us and unfortunately repeated a lot of the same things that we’ve been hearing for the past 20 years, particularly since [pro-Palestinian American activist] Rachel Corrie’s killing, who was also a Washington state resident like my wife. It’s frustrating to hear the same things again,” Ali told reporters after the meeting.
“We hope that things will be different this time around. But as I said, our expectations are what they are,” he said, repeating the family’s call for a US-led investigation into her killing.
Bennett said the family does not find the Israeli investigation “credible.”
“He [Blinken] listened to our frustrations, which were long, and at this point, we did leave asking Secretary of State Blinken to push publicly and put pressure on the Israeli government at the very least to finish their investigation into my sister’s killing before the changeover in the administration,” she said.
Eygi’s killing and the surge of assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank have been criticized by Washington, but the US has announced no major policy change toward Israel, which the Turkish-American’s family has condemned. Blinken called Eygi’s killing “unprovoked.”
Israel has acknowledged its troops shot the activist but says it was an unintentional act during a demonstration that turned violent.
Turkey has opened an investigation into Eygi’s killing and will request international arrest warrants, Ankara said later in September, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would go to the International Court of Justice over the matter.
Israel is waging a war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where more than 45,000 have been killed in the last 14 months, according to the Gaza health ministry, and over which Israel has faced genocide allegations that it denies. The Israeli assault followed an October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Hamas militants that killed some 1,200 people and in which dozens were taken hostage.