‘Israel needs to change’ – Biden admin. hits IDF over killing of US activist, Gaza airstrikes

Preliminary investigation into the killing of a Turkish-American activist during a riot in Samaria ‘does not exonerate’ IDF soldiers, says State Department, demanding Israel ‘change its policies’ for use of force.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The Biden administration chided the Israeli military Monday over civilian deaths in the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and over the death of a dual Turkish-American citizen during a riot in Samaria.

Speaking with reporters during a press briefing on Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Israel’s military must tighten its rules of engagement and policies on the use of force, citing the deaths of humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip as a result of a mistaken IDF airstrike, and the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Turkish-born International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi.

Eygi was fatally wounded during a Palestinian Arab riot in the town of Beita, south of Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria on September 7th.

The IDF has acknowledged that Eygi was likely killed by “indirect and unintended IDF fire which was aimed at a main instigator” of the riots.

During Monday’s press briefing, Miller downplayed a preliminary investigation into the shooting, saying the Biden administration did not view its results as exonerating the IDF soldiers involved.

“You look at the initial findings and they already tell you that something went tragically wrong and you had the killing of an American citizen that never should have occurred,” Miller said.

“So when I hear people hold… the initial findings up as if they somehow exonerated Israeli security forces, they very much do not. And at least in our point of view they very much do not exonerate them. They reveal the need for a number of changes, and we have made clear that’s what needs to happen.”

Miller repeatedly called on Israel to change its use of force regulations, noting that the administration has already pressed Jerusalem on the issue.

“Israel needs to change its policies, and we have made that quite clear,” Miller continued, before referencing the April 1st IDF drone strike which hit an aid convoy in Gaza, killing seven aid workers from the U.S.-based World Central Kitchen organization.

“When it comes to the World Central Kitchen strike we made clear that they need to change their deconfliction measures and worked with the UN to get new deconfliction measures in place. Now, those aren’t perfect. We continue to see strikes that result in the death of humanitarian workers; continue to see strikes in Gaza that lead to the tragic, tragic deaths of civilians.”

Gaza “is a very difficult place in which to conduct a military campaign because you have a terrorist organization that embeds itself and hides itself behind civilians, which is why it’s the United States that is at the forefront of pushing for a ceasefire. And when it comes to actions in the West Bank, it’s the – why it’s the United States that’s pushing for changes to the – to Israeli rules of engagement.”

Aysenur Ezgi EygiBiden AdministrationMatthew Miller