‘Why Did You Kill Our Daughter’

Two years after Israeli forces killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank, her family says there has been virtually no progress toward accountability for her death.

“It’s exactly where it was on day one,” Hamid Ali, Eygi’s husband, told Anadolu from his home in Seattle. “We’re still asking for the same thing, which is an investigation as a first step into getting justice for her.”

Eygi, 26, a dual Turkish-US citizen, was killed Sept. 6, 2024, while participating in a protest against Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank town of Beita, near Nablus.

The Israeli military said she was hit “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli military fire that “was not aimed at her” as its forces fired at protesters allegedly throwing rocks.

Witnesses and her family disputed the Israeli account, saying she was targeted deliberately during a peaceful protest.

A Washington Post investigation found she was shot around 20 minutes after clashes had ended, when protesters had already retreated more than 200 yards (182 meters) from Israeli forces.

Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Eygi’s killing “unprovoked and unjustified” days after the shooting.

But two years later, the US has not opened an independent investigation into her death despite repeated calls from her family and members of Congress.

Washington instead deferred to an Israeli inquiry that has never produced a public finding.

For Eygi’s father, Mehmet Suat Eygi, the absence of an investigation has left little hope that the US will deliver the accountability his family has sought.

“I don’t have much hope for justice because America is the financier of Aysenur’s killing. America therefore cannot investigate itself,” he told Anadolu.

‘No new developments’

The lack of movement in Eygi’s case comes as the number of Americans killed by Israeli forces or settlers has continued to grow.

Eygi is among 14 US citizens killed by Israeli forces or settlers since 2003, according to the rights group DAWN, which tracks the cases. None has resulted in a criminal prosecution.

The list includes Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank in July 2025, and Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a 19-year-old shot near Jerusalem in February.

Brad Parker, associate director of policy at the Center for Constitutional Rights and part of the legal team supporting Eygi’s family, said two years have brought no US criminal investigation or other accountability measures.

“There’s no new developments on the investigation front, criminal investigation from the US, or really anything focused on accountability for Aysenur’s killing,” he said. “There’s absolutely no follow-up, no update.”

He added that the family has little confidence that an Israeli-led investigation would produce meaningful accountability, pointing to previous cases, including that of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist for Al Jazeera who was fatally shot on May 11, 2022.

“There’s no indication that the Trump administration is interested in holding perpetrators accountable for killing American citizens in the West Bank, in Gaza, sort of anywhere,” he said.

“The impunity that exists is perpetuated over the years by lack of action by the US government,” Parker added.

Fight moves closer to home

With no independent federal investigation, the family’s push for accountability has increasingly extended to Washington state, where Eygi grew up.

A joint memorial calling for a US investigation into her death advanced through the state Legislature this year but failed to win final passage before the end of the legislative session.

“The support we got from the members of the Washington State Legislature in that memorial was so heartening,” Ali said.

He attributed its failure primarily to timing and legislative maneuvering, saying Republicans in the Washington State House used the limited time remaining in the session as leverage over other issues.

“I don’t think it was because of lack of support. I think it was just more of a strategical kind of failure,” Ali said.

‘She’s become a symbol’

While pursuing accountability, Eygi’s family and friends have also sought to preserve her memory in the community where she grew up.

Around her birthday on July 27, friends and supporters gathered in Seattle to paint a community mural of her portrait, designed by artist James Hesketh.

“It’s not all negative. We’ve been building community,” Ali said.

He said the family hopes Eygi’s legacy will encourage ordinary people to believe their actions can matter.

“She’s become a symbol, and we can’t really help that,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean that what she did was exceptional.

“I don’t think she thought by going to the West Bank and being a part of the protests, she was going to change the tide of the war or free Palestine,” he added. “But she understood that you can do something, and it does make a difference. It does have an effect.”

For Eygi’s father, the two-year anniversary is also a measure of a loss that time has done little to diminish.

“It is impossible to get used to a life without Aysenur. She is always on our minds, every second,” he said.

Despite the lack of accountability, he said Eygi’s emergence as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians and protests against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza was a source of pride.

“Ultimately, justice has not been served. What remains for us is a life without Aysenur.”

Washington’s response

Anadolu asked the US State Department whether it supports an independent investigation into Eygi’s killing, given the lack of accountability from Israel’s inquiry.

“The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans. Embassy Jerusalem remained in touch with the family of Aysenur Eygi and the Government of Israel as it investigated this case,” it said.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military also did not respond.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry called Eygi’s killing a “murder committed by the Netanyahu government,” and Turkish prosecutors opened their own investigation into her death.

As Eygi’s family enters a third year without the independent US investigation it first demanded after her killing, Ali said it is preparing for a longer fight.

“We’ve been developing a long-term strategy and what we want to do for Aysenur, for her legacy, but also to help others, unfortunately, who might be in a similar situation,” he said. Anadolu