White House says US activist’s death in Gaza ‘should have never happened.’ But don’t expect accountability

Seven months ago, President Joe Biden shared a scathing statement about the deaths of a trio of American soldiers who’d been killed in a drone strike on their base in Jordan by an Iran-backed militia.

In the statement, he announced that the US military’s response would continue “at times and places of our choosing” until America was satisfied.

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.  But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” he said.

It was intended as a declaration that Americans — particularly those in uniform — shall walk the earth unharmed. And for those who fall into harm’s way, Biden has put significant effort into bringing them home, such as when he orchestrated a multi-national prisoner swap to bring home a group of US nationals who’d been held in Russian prisons.

But that concern for Americans abroad hasn’t extended to those citizens who might come under fire by forces belonging to one of America’s closest allies.

Last week, Israeli forces shot and killed Aysenur Eygi, a Turkish-American activist who was in the West Bank to protest Israel’s ongoing military presence there and the continued expansion of Jewish settlements that have been roundly condemned as illegal under international law.

The IDF has acknowledged causing her death, saying in a statement that it was “very likely” that the shot to the head she took was one that was “unintentionally” fired at her “during a violent riot.”

But an investigation by The Washington Post determined that Eygi was not shot in the midst of a riot. Instead, witnesses told the newspaper that the violence had ended a full 30 minutes before the shot that killed her was fired.

On Wednesday, President Biden called Eygi’s death “totally unacceptable” and cited Israel’s “preliminary investigation,” which he said “has indicated that it was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation.”

“The US government has had full access to Israel’s preliminary investigation, and expects continued access as the investigation continues, so that we can have confidence in the result. We will continue to stay in close contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities regarding the circumstances that led to Aysenur’s death,” he said, adding: “There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

But it’s highly unlikely that the Biden administration — or any US administration — will use leverage to force the Israeli military to stop targeting protesters, journalists, or other noncombatants.

Two years ago, Biden expressed similar sentiments during a 2022 visit to the West Bank, over the killing of another American, Shireen Abu Akleh.

The Palestinian-American journalist, a veteran correspondent for Al Jazeera, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in May 2022 while wearing body armor identifying her as a reporter during coverage of a raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

Israel initially denied any role in her killing but later conceded that she might have had been shot by Israeli forces unintentionally.

Standing alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Biden called the slain journalist “an American citizen and a proud Palestinian” who “was performing very vital work on an independent media and vital work of democracy.”

“The United States will continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death, and we will continue to stand up for media freedom everywhere in the world,” he added.

But the Biden administration never called for Israel to open a criminal probe into the slaying, even though the Department of Justice opened one without Israel’s cooperation.

The pattern exhibited with the deaths of Eygi and Abu Akleh has gone on for years. Israeli forces kill unarmed civilians — journalists or protesters — and despite outrage from Americans and the international community, nothing happens. The US continues to send Israel billions in aid, and the Biden administration — like those before it — has refused to condition that aid on Israel making changes to its policies towards protesters and journalists in areas it controls.

More than two decades ago, Israeli soldiers operating a bulldozer in Rafah ran over Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist who was protesting Israel’s policy of flattening Palestinian homes.

A witness at the time, activist Greg Schnabel, told the press she’d been “clearly” visible to the bulldozer operators and soldiers in a nearby tank, since she and other protesters were acting as human shields to prevent the destruction of the Palestinian-occupied homes.

“As the ground continued to move Rachel went down on her knees. The bulldozer continued to move forward. Rachel began to become buried beneath the dirt. Still it did not stop,” he said.

An autopsy report obtained by her parents said she was killed by “pressure on the chest (mechanical asphyxiation) with fractures of the ribs and vertebrae of the dorsal spinal column and scapulas, and tear wounds in the right lung with hemorrhaging of the pleural cavities.”

In other words, the sort of injuries one could expect when being crushed by a bulldozer.

But Israel described what happened as an accident, despite Corrie’s parents blaming the IDF for her death.

“Contrary to allegations, Ms Corrie was not run over by a bulldozer, but sustained injuries caused by earth and debris which fell on her during bulldozer operation. At the time of the incident Ms Corrie was standing behind an earth mound and therefore obscured from bulldozer crew’s view,” an IDF report said.

Corrie’s parents later sued the IDF in an Israeli court, but a judge rejected their lawsuit and said Rachel was responsible for her own demise.

“She did not move away as any reasonable person would have done,” the judge said. “But she chose to endanger herself… and thus found her death.”