Seattleite killed by Israeli sniper commemorated in legislation amid push for independent investigation

The family of a Seattle woman killed by the Israeli military last year continues to push for an independent investigation into her death. This month, Washington lawmakers passed legislation aimed at fulfilling that goal.

A new House resolution is mostly symbolic in its recognition of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi’s life, but a Senate bill, if passed, would pressure the federal government to independently investigate her death.

In a private room at the State Capitol on Wednesday, the mother of Rachel Corrie, a Washingtonian who was killed by the Israeli Defense Force during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in 2003, read aloud a House resolution, recognizing Aysenur Eygi, who was killed by the Israeli Defense Force last September.

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“The House of Representatives posthumously recognizes the extraordinary life of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi and commends her legacy of activism, which continues to inspire other Washingtonians to fight for social and environmental justice and to work for a more equitable, sustainable world,” Cindy Corrie recited.

An Israeli sniper shot Eygi, 26, in the head on Sept. 6 as she observed protests against Israeli settlers in the West Bank for a Palestinian nonprofit. She had just graduated from the University of Washington, where she helped organize student encampments last year calling on the university to cut financial ties with Israel. The UW Board of Regents voted down a measure last month that would have probed the university’s investments with Israel amid its war in Gaza, or what Eygi called a “genocide.”

More than 100 U.S. Senators and House Representatives from around the country signed letters to former President Joe Biden last year calling for a U.S.-led investigation into Eygi’s death. Biden called the killing "unacceptable" in a written statement published days after her death, and said his administration "had full access to Israel’s preliminary investigation" and that it "indicated that [Eygi’s death] was the result of a tragic error resulting from an unnecessary escalation."

Over the winter, Eygi’s husband Hamid Ali and other family members traveled to Washington, D.C., to ask Congress for an independent investigation. Still, eight months after her death, there’s been no independent investigation and many questions remain for Eygi’s family.

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“We don't know anything,” Ali said. “We don't know who the person was. We don't know the unit. We don't know… the commanding officers that were up the chain that might have given the order. We don't know any of that information, much less what happened to them.”

Washington state lawmakers introduced a proposal this month calling on the federal government to investigate the deaths of U.S. citizens killed by foreign governments, including Eygi. Lawmakers will deliberate over the resolution during the 2026 legislative session.

The new legislation has been welcomed by families and civil rights groups.

“As Americans, we think to ourselves, ‘What if I get targeted overseas? What if something happens to me?,’” said Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of the Washington state’s Council of American Islamic Relations chapter. “ We think that our government will be there for us — that if I get harmed or if I get kidnapped, if I get… God forbid, killed, my government will do something to stand up.”

“Sadly, what we've seen over the course of the past year is abject silence from many of our elected officials,” he added.

Correction, Friday, 4/25/25 at 9:15 a.m.: A previous version of this story misspelled Imraan Siddiqi’s name.