dpa
Tel Aviv
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it was "highly likely” that US-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot and killed during a protest in the occupied West Bank last week, was "hit indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli fire.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had "not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator” of an anti-settlement protest that turned violent on Friday.
"The IDF expresses its deepest regret over the death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi,” an IDF statement said, adding that the military police continue to investigate the shooting.
Eygi, 26, was initially taken to a clinic with life-threatening head injuries and later pronounced dead, according to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah. She had been protesting an Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Beita. Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
"The incident took place during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beita Junction,” the IDF said.
Eygi is to be buried in Turkey.
Speaking in London on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Eygi’s killing an unacceptable and called on the Israeli military to make "fundamental changes” to its approach in the West Bank.
"No one, no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just to purely express their views,” he said.
"The Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way they operate in the West Bank, including changes in their rules of engagement.”
"It has to change,” he continued. "And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli government.”