Family of activist slain by Israeli forces frustrated after meeting Blinken

The family of Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in September, have said it was "frustrating to hear the same things" without meaningful action after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Monday's meeting comes as the family continues to urge the Biden administration to launch an independent investigation into her killing, which evidence shows to be deliberate.

"Secretary was attentive in listening to us, but unfortunately repeated a lot of the same things that we've been hearing for the past 20 years, particularly since Rachel Corrie’s killing," Eygi's husband, Hamid Ali, said following the meeting at the State Department.

23-year-old American Rachel Corrie was killed in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer while protesting the demolition of Palestinian homes in the southern town of Rafah in Gaza.

A similar context surrounds 26-year-old Eygi's death. An Israeli sniper lethally shot her on September 6 during a peaceful protest against illegal Israeli settlements near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Eyewitness accounts and autopsies conducted by Turkish and Palestinian authorities point to a targeted strike.

"We hope that things will be different this time around," Ali said, proceeding to express that the family doesn't have high expectations.

No accountability

Ozden Bennet, Eygi's sister, said the US is still awaiting an Israeli investigation, which the family does not find "credible".

The family left the meeting requesting Washington to "put pressure on the Israeli government to at the very least finish their investigation into my sister's killing before the change-over in the administration," Bennett said.

She noted that before Monday's meeting at the State Department, no one from the White House or the Biden administration had contacted the family to offer condolences, despite news reports that suggested they had been in contact.

The US has called on Israeli authorities to conduct a "swift, thorough, and transparent investigation" into Eygi's killing three months ago, but no accountability has been achieved to date as the investigation is still ongoing.

A preliminary investigation by Israel found that Eygi was "highly likely" hit "indirectly and unintentionally" by Israeli fire that was targeting a "main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks" during the protest.

Video evidence and witness accounts, however, have contradicted Israel's version of events, with many saying an Israeli sniper directly hit her as she was standing away from the protest area.

A report by The Washington Post also revealed that Eygi was shot more than 30 minutes after the peak of confrontations in Beita and about 20 minutes after protesters had moved over 200 yards down the main road, away from Israeli forces.

Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation on September 11 into the killing of Eygi, who was laid to rest in the town of Didim in western Türkiye after her body was repatriated.