The US vice chairman and Democratic nominee has did not again Aysenur Eygi’s household’s name for an impartial investigation.
Washington, DC – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has decried the killing of American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces, however the USA vice chairman stopped in need of endorsing requests for an impartial investigation into the incident.
In an announcement on Wednesday, Harris referred to as the deadly capturing of Eygi within the occupied West Financial institution final week “tragic” and “unacceptable”. She additionally urged “full accountability” for the killing.
“Israel should do extra to make sure that incidents like this by no means occur once more,” Harris mentioned.
“Israel’s preliminary investigation indicated it was the results of a tragic error for which the [Israeli military] is accountable. We are going to proceed to press the federal government of Israel for solutions and for continued entry to the findings of the investigation so we will believe within the outcomes.”
Israeli forces shot Eygi within the head on September 6 whereas she was protesting in opposition to an unlawful Israeli outpost within the Palestinian territory.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army acknowledged that it “most likely” killed Eygi, however mentioned she was shot “not directly and unintentionally”.
Eygi, 26, lived in Washington State and has been described by buddies as a joyous one who was obsessed with social justice.
Rights advocates have lengthy argued that Israel shouldn’t be allowed to analyze its personal abuses, noting that the nation’s authorities hardly ever prosecute its personal troopers for rampant rights violations in opposition to Palestinians.
That’s the reason Eygi’s household had referred to as on the US to conduct its personal probe into the killing. However Washington has all however dominated out the request, saying that it’s awaiting the outcomes of the Israeli investigation.
On Tuesday, each Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin described the killing of Eygi as “unprovoked and unjustified”. However their boss, President Joe Biden, was fast to counsel that he accepts the Israeli clarification for the capturing.
“Apparently, it was an accident. It ricocheted off the bottom and it — [she] acquired hit accidentally,” he instructed reporters exterior the White Home.
He later issued a assertion on Wednesday saying the US expects to have “full entry” to Israel’s preliminary investigation.
“There should be full accountability. And Israel should do extra to make sure that incidents like this by no means occur once more,” Biden wrote within the assertion.
Not one of the US officers — together with Harris — has backed an impartial probe or dedicated to in search of penalties for Eygi’s killing.
Eygi is certainly one of a number of Individuals killed by Israel lately. Victims embody 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 US has verbally demanded accountability in these circumstances however has not utilized any penalties to Israel for refusing to open felony investigations into the incidents.
Israel receives billions of {dollars} in US army assist yearly, in addition to diplomatic assist from Washington at worldwide boards.
Biden and Harris have confronted criticism this week for failing to name Eygi’s household to specific condolences or condemn Israel for killing her.
Critics have additionally drawn a distinction between the administration’s response to Eygi’s dying and the killing of US citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken captive throughout the October 7 assault by Hamas and located lifeless in a tunnel in Gaza late in August.
After Goldberg-Polin’s dying, prime Biden administration officers unequivocally condemned his killing, and the US Division of Justice introduced new “terrorism” costs in opposition to Hamas leaders.
Advocates say this robust response solely highlights the tepid nature of the US response to Eygi’s killing.
“Aysenur and her household deserve justice. As her household continues to mourn, President Biden and Vice President Harris have chosen to defend the international army that killed her as a substitute of calling the household to specific their condolences,” Juliette Majid, a pal of Eygi, instructed Al Jazeera in an announcement.
“How lengthy should the household wait earlier than the US conducts an impartial investigation into the deliberate killing of an American citizen?”
