US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the initial findings of the Israeli authorities regarding the killing of American citizen Aisha Noor Izgi in the West Bank do not exonerate Israeli security forces.
Miller warned that Washington would consider taking other measures if it was not satisfied with the results of a full Israeli investigation, adding that the United States would await the results of the full investigation, which it expected to be prompt, comprehensive and transparent.
Miller declined to say whether Israeli security forces had assured U.S. officials that they would make the required changes to their rules of engagement.
Aisha, a 26-year-old Turkish-American, was killed on September 6 while protesting settlement expansion in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Israel admitted its forces opened fire on her, but said it was unintentional during a violent protest.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week described Aisha’s killing as “unjustified and unprovoked,” demanding that the Israeli government make changes to the way its forces conduct operations in the West Bank.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its commanders conducted a preliminary investigation into the incident and found that the shooting was not targeting Aisha, but another person it described as “the main instigator of the riot.”
For her part, the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, described the killing of the Turkish-American activist by the Israeli army as a horrific tragedy, stressing that her country will continue to demand more details from Tel Aviv.
In turn, the Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that activist Aisha is considered a martyr by the Palestinian people.
On Friday, the activist’s body arrived in Turkey, where she was buried on Saturday, after performing the funeral prayer after the noon prayer at the central mosque in her hometown in the Didim region in the west of the country.
The escalation of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank has angered Israel’s Western allies, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some settlers.
