Biden: "Full accountability" needed for IDF killing of U.S. citizen in West Bank

• Eygi, who graduated from the University of Washington earlier this year and also held Turkish citizenship, was an activist who opposed Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

The latest: "I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi," Biden said in a statement Wednesday, calling her shooting "totally unacceptable."

• While he said there needs to be "full accountability" for the matter, Biden appeared to back Israel's claim that the shooting was accidental, calling it a "tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation."
• "Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again," Biden added.

U.S. Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr and Chief of the Office of Palestinian Affairs at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem Hans Wechsel visited Nablus on Tuesday and met local officials and medical first responders who were at the scene of the incident in which Eygi was killed.

• The State Department said they discussed the urgent need for all parties to take steps to improve the safety and security of civilians.
• "We deplore the killing of civilians no matter their background," the State Department said.

Catch up quick: An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initial inquiry into Eygi's death during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank last week found it was "highly likely" she was hit "indirectly and unintentionally" by IDF fire, the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.

• Biden had told reporters on Tuesday that Eygi's death "apparently was an accident." He said the bullet "ricocheted off the ground" and hit her. "I'm working that out now," he added.
• White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre told reporters Biden was referring to the conclusions of the IDF investigation. She said Israel gave the U.S. the conclusions of its investigation on Tuesday.

Hamid Ali, Eygi's partner, said in response to Biden's comment Tuesday, the "White House has not spoken with us."

• "For four days, we have waited for President Biden to pick up the phone and do the right thing: To call us, offer his condolences, and let us know that he is ordering an independent investigation of the killing of Ayşenur," Ali said.
• "An activist and volunteer, Ayşenur was peacefully standing for justice as an international observer and witness to Palestinian suffering."
• "This was no accident and her killers must be held accountable," Ali later added.

Driving the news: The Palestinian official new agency said Israeli forces used live fire and stun grenades to try to disperse the demonstration in Beita, near the city of Nablus.

• The protesters had been opposing the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
• In Tuesday's statement, the IDF said its inquiry found that the protests had devolved into "a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks toward security forces at the Beita Junction."
• The inquiry found the soldiers who fired were not aiming at Eygi, but at "the key instigator of the riot," the IDF said.

Zoom in: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Tuesday that Israel needs to reexamine the IDF's rules of engagement while operating in the West Bank, the Pentagon said.

• According to the Pentagon, Austin expressed "grave concern" about the conclusions of the IDF inquiry, which showed Israeli soldiers' fire was responsible "for the unprovoked and unjustified death of American citizen Aysenur Eygi."

Zoom out: At a press conference Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Eygi's killing "unprovoked and unjustified," adding that "no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest."

• Blinken said an initial reading of the IDF inquiry showed "serious issues that need to be dealt with" and that the Israeli military needs to make "fundamental changes" in how it operates in the West Bank.
• This would include changing the IDF's rules of engagement, which determine when soldiers are allowed to use live fire, he added.

What to watch: The IDF added that a criminal investigation was launched by military police, whose findings would be submitted for review by the IDF advocate general upon the investigation's conclusion.

Editor's note: This story was updated with a statement from Biden and additional comments.