U.S. demands IDF change West Bank operations after American’s killing

Israel acknowledged Tuesday that its forces had likely shot dead an American citizen near a demonstration last week in the occupied West Bank, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call for “fundamental changes” in the way the Israel Defense Forces operates there, “including changes to their rules of engagement.” In a statement, the IDF said its initial inquiry found that it was “highly likely” that Aysenur Eygi, 26, had been “unintentionally” hit by fire “which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator” of what it called a “violent riot” in the West Bank village of Beita, where demonstrators had thrown rocks at security forces. In one of the sharpest criticisms the Biden administration has made of Israeli military operations in the West Bank, Blinken said: “We’ve long seen reports of the security forces looking the other way when extremist settlers use violence against Palestinians. We’ve seen reports of excessive force by Israeli security forces against Palestinians.” He spoke during a news conference in London with Britain’s new foreign secretary, David Lammy. Advertisement “It’s not acceptable,” he said. Asked about Biden’s remarks, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre referred to Blinken’s statement about the need for “fundamental changes” in Israeli operations. Advertisement Multiple witnesses who spoke to The Washington Post said that there were two shots in quick succession in the area where Eygi was standing, one of which hit her directly in the head, and another that appeared to ricochet off the ground and wounded a nearby Palestinian teen with bullet fragments. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, in a briefing at the White House, echoed Blinken’s remarks, telling reporters that “for an innocent bystander to be killed in a protest” was “very, very deeply concerning to us.” Kirby said it was “noteworthy” that Israel had launched “a criminal investigation” of the shooting. “We’re going to be watching that very, very closely.” Advertisement But he sidestepped calls by Eygi’s family and others for an independent investigation of her killing. “Aysenur, an activist and volunteer, was peacefully standing for justice as an international observer and witness to Palestinian suffering,” the statement said. ), who has long advocated for the Biden administration to exert more pressure on Israel, said in a statement that Blinken’s remarks Tuesday were welcome, but that “the need for fundamental change in the IDF’s use of force in the West Bank has been evident for years.” Advertisement “It is our responsibility to seek justice and accountability,” Van Hollen said, “and in order to get that we need an independent, U.S.-led investigation.” Violence has spiked in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the war began in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. During the same period, 18 Israelis, including 13 IDF members and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank. Over the weekend, a Jordanian gunman killed three nonmilitary Israeli security guards at the Israeli-controlled border between the West Bank and Jordan, the main point of entry and exit for Palestinians in the occupied territory. Ahmad al-Khdour, whose son Mohammad, 17, a U.S.-born citizen living with family in the West Bank, was shot and killed while driving by an Israeli settler in February near his home in the village of Biddu, according to his family, said in an interview Tuesday that “this is an ongoing killing machine in the West Bank, if there will be no serious pressure by the U.S. administration to stop the war in Gaza.” Advertisement Khdour’s killing came a month after another Palestinian American youth, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, was shot in similar circumstances in a car close to his northern West Bank village. “Every time we lose someone here, we say maybe this time [there] will be serious pressure on the Israelis,” Ahmad Khdour said. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday that Israeli military forces were “storming” its center in Tulkarm, a town in the northwestern West Bank. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/10/israel-idf-operations-blinken-response-american-death/