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