Biden, Harris 'outraged' at killing of US citizen in West Bank riot

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the killing of US citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi on Wednesay, after she was killed during a riot in the West Bank last week.

"I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi," Biden said in a statement, eulogizing her as a "recent U.S. college graduate" who was "an activist whose idealism led her to travel to the West Bank to peacefully protest the expansion of settlements."

Harris called it a "horrific tragedy that never should have happened" in a separate statement.

He called her death "unacceptable," which the Israeli military has stated likely was caused by gunfire from Israeli soldiers.

The US has access to Israel's investigation, Biden said, adding that he expects this to continue " so that we can have confidence in the result."

Biden said that the "preliminary investigation has indicated that it was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation."

"We will continue to press the government of Israel for answers and for continued access to the findings of the investigation so we can have confidence in the results," Harris said.

He called on Israel to "do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again," while lamenting the decades-long violence in the West Bank.

Biden called out extremist settler violence, which is "uprooting Palestinians from their homes," while also blaming Palestinian terrorism aimed at killing Israeli civilians.

He concluded that his administration would implement policies to hold all extremists, regardless of whether Palestinian or Israeli, accountable for violent acts that block the pathway to peace.

The IDF said it "expresses deepest regret"after her killing, which was likely unintentional gunfire aimed at the instigator of the riot. A criminal investigation is ongoing.