US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin have demanded an overhaul of Israeli military conduct in the occupied West Bank as they decried the fatal shooting of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American-Turkish protester against settlement expansion.

Blinken and Austin, in their strongest comments to date criticising the security forces of Washington’s closest Middle East ally, described Eygi’s killing as “unprovoked and unjustified”. They separately said said Washington would insist to the Israeli government that it makes changes to how its forces operated in the West Bank.

“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views,” Blinken told reporters in London.

“In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

“Now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands ofIsraeli security forces. It’s not acceptable,” Blinken said.