The US vice president and Democratic candidate has not backed the family of Aysenur Eygi's request for an independent investigation.
Washington, DC – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris condemned the killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces, but the US vice president did not back calls for an independent investigation into the incident.
In a statement Wednesday, Harris called the fatal shooting of Eygi in the occupied West Bank last week “tragic” and “unacceptable,” and also called for accountability for the killing.
“Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this do not happen again,” Harris said.
“Israel's preliminary investigation indicated that it was the result of a tragic error by which the [Israeli military] “We will continue to press the Israeli government to provide us with answers and to allow us access to the findings of the investigation so that we can trust the results.”
Israeli forces shot Eygi in the head on September 6 while he was protesting against an illegal Israeli outpost on Palestinian territory.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military acknowledged that it “probably” killed Eygi, but said he was shot “indirectly and not intentionally.”
Eygi, 26, lived in Washington state and was described by friends as cheerful and passionate about social justice.
Human rights advocates have long argued that Israel should not be allowed to investigate its own abuses, noting that the country's authorities rarely prosecute their own soldiers for widespread violations of Palestinian rights.
Eygi's family had therefore asked the United States to conduct its own investigation into the killing, but Washington has largely dismissed the request and said it is awaiting the results of the Israeli investigation.
On Tuesday, both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin described Eygi’s killing as “unprovoked and unjustified.” But their boss, President Joe Biden, was quick to suggest he accepts the Israeli explanation for the shooting.
“Apparently it was an accident. It bounced off the ground and… [she] “I was hit by accident,” he told reporters outside the White House.
He later issued a statement on Wednesday saying the United States looks forward to having “full access” to Israel's preliminary investigation.
“There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this do not happen again,” Biden wrote in the statement.
None of the U.S. officials, including Harris, have endorsed an independent investigation or pledged to seek consequences for Eygi’s killing.
Eygi is one of several Americans killed by Israel in recent years. Victims include 17-year-old Tawfiq Ajaq, who was shot in January, and veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin in 2022.
The United States has verbally demanded accountability in these cases, but has not applied any sanctions against Israel for refusing to open criminal investigations into the incidents.
Israel receives billions of dollars in US military aid annually, as well as diplomatic support from Washington in international forums.
Biden and Harris have faced criticism this week for not calling Eygi's family to express condolences or condemn Israel for killing her.
Critics have also drawn a contrast between the administration's response to Eygi's death and the killing of U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and found dead in a tunnel in Gaza in late August.
Following Goldberg-Polin’s death, senior Biden administration officials unequivocally condemned her killing and the U.S. Justice Department announced new “terrorism” charges against Hamas leaders.
Advocates say this strong reaction only highlights the lukewarm nature of the US response to Eygi's killing.
“Aysenur and her family deserve justice. While her family continues to grieve, President Biden and Vice President Harris have chosen to defend the foreign military that killed her instead of calling the family to express their condolences,” Juliette Majid, a friend of Eygi, told Al Jazeera in a statement.
“How long must the family wait before the United States conducts an independent investigation into the deliberate killing of an American citizen?”
