By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

A group of 103 American lawmakers demand the US government open “a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation into Eygi’s killing.”

American lawmakers on Tuesday called on the United States President Joe Biden’s administration to open an independent probe into the killing of American Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank on September 6, Anadolu news agency reported.  

The group of 103 lawmakers made the request in a letter addressed to US President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they demanded “a thorough, credible, and transparent investigation into Eygi’s killing.”

“Given the evidence, we believe the United States must independently investigate whether this was a homicide,” the letter said.

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The lawmakers expressed in the letter their deep concern over the Israeli occupation authorities’ findings that concluded that the activist was killed “indirectly and unintentionally” which they said contradicts “credible, independent eyewitness accounts” that confirmed that she was directly targeted and without provocation.

 “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,” the lawmakers added.

The lawmakers quoted an investigation by The Washington Post based on “interviews with eyewitnesses and West Bank residents, photos, and videos”.

The newspaper concluded that the killing of the American activist occurred “more than a half-hour after the height of confrontations in Beita, and some 20 minutes after protesters had moved down the main road — more than 200 yards away from Israeli forces.”

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The lawmakers requested in their letter that the investigation “should include all evidence found and rationale for how findings were determined in a written report to the family.”

The lawmakers ended by demanding answers from the US administration regarding questions about the US government’s current knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Eygi’s killing and whether it will conduct an independent probe.

They also requested a timeline and plan for such an investigation and demanded to know how will the US government “seek accountability if the Israeli government refuses to cooperate with such an investigation?”

Family Demands US Probe

While United States President Joe Biden labeled the killing of the young activist as an “accident”, the family of the Turkish-American activist has urged the US government to order an independent investigation into the death of their daughter.

“A U.S. citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter. We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” Aysenur’s family said in a statement last week.

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The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) with whom Aysenur volunteered, also refuted in a statement after her death some media reports which it said “repeated false claims that ISM activists threw rocks” during “the peaceful demonstration” in Beita.

“All eyewitness accounts refute this claim. Aysenur was more than 200 meters away from where the Israeli soldiers were, and there were no confrontations there at all in the minutes before she was shot. Regardless, from such distance, neither she, nor anyone else could have possibly been perceived as posing any threat. She was killed in cold blood.”

“Aysenur, who we consider a martyr in the struggle,” was the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020, the statement said.

The activist’s death was met with world condemnation demanding an independent investigation into her killing.

(PC, Anadolu)