‘DEEPLY DISTURBED’
In a statement, Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, said Washington was “deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen” in the West Bank on Friday.
“We have reached out to the Government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident,” Savett said.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen said Eygi was the third American killed in the West Bank since Oct 7, when Hamas militants’ attack on Israel sparked war in Gaza and a resurgence of West Bank violence.
“[The] Biden Administration has not been doing enough to pursue justice and accountability on their behalf,” Van Hollen, a Democrat, who sits on the Senate’s Foreign Relations committee, said. “If the Netanyahu Government will not pursue justice for Americans, the US Department of Justice must.”
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Eygi’s death, saying in a post on social media that Turkey “will continue to work in every platform to halt Israel’s policy of occupation and genocide”. Israel denies its actions in occupied Palestinian territories amount to genocide.
In a separate incident on Friday near Beita, in the village of Qaryut, a 13-year-old girl was killed by Israeli gunfire, Palestinian health officials said, after settlers attacked the village.
WAFA quoted the girl’s father as saying that she was in their home when it was hit by gunfire. The Israeli military said it was investigating, after its troops had fired in the air to disperse what it described as violent confrontations between dozens of settlers and Palestinians in the area.
A rise in violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank has stirred anger among Western allies of Israel, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the settler movement.
Several weeks ago around 100 settlers attacked the village of Jit, in the northern West Bank, drawing worldwide condemnation and an Israeli government promise of swift action against anyone found guilty of violence.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state. Israel has built settlements there that most countries deem illegal, which Israel disputes citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
