Israeli forces opened fire to intimidate a foreign diplomatic delegation upon its arrival at an entrance to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The diplomats were undertaking an official mission on Wednesday to assess the humanitarian situation in Jenin as a wide-scale Israeli military assault there, which has caused deaths and displacement, enters its fourth month.
Several countries have condemned the action and called for accountability from the Israeli government.
The Israeli military, in a breach of diplomatic norms, opened fire as the delegation of 35 ambassadors, consuls, and diplomats approached the camp, which has been under siege since Jan. 21, said Ahmed al-Deek, an assistant to the Palestinian foreign minister.
Deek, accompanying the group, said the shooting aimed to frighten the delegation and prevent their entry into the camp.
According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the delegation had diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the EU, Portugal, China, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Turkiye, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Japan, Romania, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Canada, India, Chile, France, and the UK, along with representatives from several other countries.
Deek condemned the Israeli actions, calling for an end to the ongoing assaults against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and for Israel to be held accountable.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry organised the visit for diplomats to witness Israel’s ongoing military assault, following a similar visit to Tulkarem in the northern West Bank last week. The Israeli army confirmed that its forces fired warning shots at the delegation, claiming that it had deviated from a pre-approved route in an active combat zone.
The army said it reviewed the incident and instructed unit officers to immediately speak with representatives of the relevant countries.
Meanwhile, Turkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the gunfire “in the strongest terms” and said Ankara was calling for an immediate investigation and for accountability.
“This attack, which endangered the lives of diplomats, is yet another demonstration of Israel’s systematic disregard for international law and human rights,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that a diplomat from its consulate in Jerusalem was in the delegation.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he would summon the Israeli ambassador in Paris. Barrot, writing on X, called the incident “unacceptable” and said the ambassador would be required to explain.
Simon Harris, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs, said: “I am shocked and appalled,” noting that two Irish diplomats based in Ramallah in the West Bank were in the group. This is completely unacceptable and I condemn it in the strongest terms.”
The army said it “regretted” the inconvenience caused, adding that the commander of the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Division will soon hold personal conversations with the diplomats to update them on the findings of the initial inquiry into the incident.
At least 969 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal last July and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
