US Dept. of Justice charges Hamas leaders for Oct. 7 Israel attacks
The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has charged six senior Hamas leaders for the October 7th attacks on Israel.
WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden has not talked with the family of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the dual U.S.-Turkish citizen who was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank last week, the White House said Monday.
White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that Biden has “not spoken to the family as of yet.”
“We don’t have a call to talk about today,” Kirby said at Monday’s White House press briefing. “Obviously, we mourn with her family, of course.”
Eygi, 26, was taking part in a protest against the expansion of Israeli-occupied settlements in the West Bank when she was shot in the head by Israeli troops and died of her wounds on Friday.
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While Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has issued a statement on Eygi’s death, the Biden administration on Friday did offer condolences to her family and called for an investigation.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Friday that the administration is “urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more.”
The administration faced criticism from the Uncommitted National Movement, a progressive organization seeking an end to U.S. military support of Israel, after Biden and Harris expressed swift outrage over the deaths of Americans kidnapped by Hamas, but have not spoken out about Eygy’s death, while maintaining silence over Eygi.
“While Biden and Harris express deep outrage over Americans held in Gaza, their response is disturbingly muted when Palestinians, and even American citizens, are killed by Israel’s military,” the organization said in a statement on Friday. “This imbalance in outrage reflects a deeper injustice in U.S. policy that devalues Palestinian lives and those who stand in solidarity with them.”
The group also called for the United States to stop supplying weapons to Israel and for the Justice Department to investigate Eygi’s death.
Kirby on Monday said Israeli officials reached out to the Biden administration to emphasize they’re “promptly investigating” the shooting and are “moving swiftly” to present findings and conclusions.
“We’ll obviously hold our judgment until we see that,” Kirby said. “We’ve called for a complete, thorough, swift and transparent investigation. We’ll see what they learn.”
Contributing: Reuters
