Biden ‘Outraged’ by Death of Turkish-American Activist at West Bank Riot

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he was “outraged” by the death of activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at a riot by Palestinians in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) last week.

Eygi was killed when Israeli troops fired on a group of Palestinian rioters, according to a preliminary investigation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“The inquiry found that it is highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot,” the IDF said. “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.”

It is not clear what Eygi was doing there.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed Tuesday that Eygi had been “killed at the hands of Israeli security forces.”

Biden piled on:

I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi. Aysenur was a recent U.S. college graduate. She was also an activist whose idealism led her to travel to the West Bank to peacefully protest the expansion of settlements. The shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable.

Israel has acknowledged its responsibility for Aysenur’s death, and a preliminary investigation has indicated that it was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters on Wednesday that Eygi’s death had been a “terrible mistake,” that the IDF “regrets what has happened,” and that it had sent “condolences to her family.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.