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The Washington Post’s Flawed Investigation Into American Activist’s Death Leaves More Questions Than Answers
Less than a week after Aysenur Eygi was killed while attending a demonstration outside the Palestinian town of Beita in the West Bank, The Washington Post has published what it deems to be an exclusive investigation into the Turkish-American activist’s death.
Based on witness testimony and video evidence, the Post has called into question the IDF’s preliminary finding that it is “highly likely that [Eygi] was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot.”
However, rather than prove its case, the Post’s investigation leaves open questions regarding both the events of the day in question and the newspaper’s investigatory process.
The Washington Post headlined its investigation “New video, witnesses challenge Israel’s account of US activist’s killing,” centering its case around witness testimony and video evidence.
Yet, despite the impression left by this headline, there is no new video evidence that dramatically upends the IDF’s claims. Rather, it appears to be the lack of video evidence that the Post finds to be the most relevant proof to help make its case.
In its investigation, the Post reviewed more than 50 videos and photos provided by the International Solidarity Movement and Faz3a, both pro-Palestinian activist groups that are active in the West Bank.
Yet, of all the visual evidence published in this investigatory piece, there’s no “new video” or smoking gun that can be said to really “challenge Israel’s account.” Rather, readers are exposed to a variety of video snippets and images of the lead-up to the protest as well as the clashes that ensued between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators and their allies.
In addition, one video clip shows a brief moment of chaos after the moment that Eygi was shot.
To support its claim that there was no rioting happening at the time that Eygi was shot and, thus, no “key instigator” for the IDF to have targeted, the Post points to the fact that there is no video of the moment of the shooting.
According to the activists and local Palestinians who were interviewed for this investigative piece, since nothing was happening, it’s natural that there’s no visual evidence of the fatal moment in question.
However, to claim that no evidence is somehow proof for the inaccuracy of the IDF’s claims is purely speculative and in no way definitively proves the assertion that the Israeli claim is wrong and there was no violence happening at the time that Aysenur Eygi was killed.
Another key element of the Post’s “challenging” of Israel’s narrative regarding the death of Eygi is its reliance on 13 “eyewitnesses and Beita residents” who were in the vicinity at the time that she was killed.
The key flaw in this aspect of the investigation is that all these “eyewitnesses” are not unbiased observers but are active members of organizations that are ideologically opposed to the activities of Israel and the IDF in the area.
Yet, at no point, does the Post inform its readers that these witness statements might be tinged by bias, instead presenting them as reliable and unimpeachable sources.
The questionable reliability of these activists is made even more clear in light of the fact that a report by the Tazpit Press Service (TPS) found that foreign activists are told to deceive Israeli authorities about their intentions when they arrive in the country so as not to raise any red flags with the Israeli immigration authorities.
For an organization that encourages deception on behalf of a political goal, it’s not absurd to suggest they also might not be totally honest in their witness accounts in order to muddy the waters and besmirch the IDF’s reputation.
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee’s instructions for foreigners coming to Israel during the upcoming olive harvest. Screenshot by TPS-IL
Further, as seen in a video that can be found here, which is composed of clips taken by ISM activists, these activists are known to seek out confrontations with IDF soldiers and intentionally disrupt Israeli security operations, using their foreign citizenship as a “shield” for these raucous activities.
Yet, despite their encouragement of deception and their history of anti-Israel activities that descend into violence, the Post treats the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Faz3a as purely reliable sources.
One example of the questionable nature of the Post’s sole reliance on the activists’ narrative is its claim that since the closest Israeli forces to the local Palestinians and foreign activists were roughly 200 yards away, it would have been absurd for the Israeli soldiers to feel under threat even if someone among them was engaged in violence. As Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak is quoted as saying, “Even an Olympic stone thrower cannot make half that distance.”
However, instead of taking this claim as the gospel truth, the Post could have noted that a projectile launched by a slingshot can make that distance. Since the Post earlier noted that there were Palestinians with slingshots present during the initial clashes with IDF soldiers, it would be within the realm of possibility that IDF forces would feel threatened by someone using a slingshot 200 yards away from them.
Yet, since the Post’s “investigation” only parroted activist claims with no critical analysis on the part of its authors, it erroneously took the assertion that no Israeli soldier would have been threatened from that distance for granted.
As the IDF continues to investigate the killing of Aysenur Eygi in order to determine potential criminal liability on the part of Israeli forces, The Washington Post has chosen to conduct an investigation of its own.
However, rather than provide its readers with a well-constructed and nuanced look at the event in question, the Post has created a flimsy report bent on impugning the Israeli narrative while relying on conjecture, circumstantial evidence, and biased witness statements.
For a newspaper with such a storied history of investigative reporting, this latest report is further proof of the decline in journalistic standards.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post The Washington Post’s Flawed Investigation Into American Activist’s Death Leaves More Questions Than Answers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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