Israeli troops shoot at foreign diplomats in Jenin

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Israeli troops opened fire at a group of foreign diplomats outside a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday, diplomats have told The National.

Video posted online showed the panicked visitors rushing for the cover of their armoured vehicles as the shots were fired.

One of the diplomats said that about 30 missions were present, from Europe, South America and Asia. Six shots were fired "in a couple of bursts”, they said, as representatives were standing at an Israeli military barrier leading into the camp.

“We had been standing there for around 10 to 15 minutes,” the diplomat said. “There were at least 15 cars, so we were a big presence and [Palestinian] media were also there.”

"The key point is that we were all leaving [as the firing started]," the diplomat said.

Another diplomat told The National the situation was confusing. "We were finishing the trip at the entrance of the camp, and suddenly we heard shots coming from inside," they said. "We rushed to our vehicles."

Jenin has been subjected to Israel’s widespread crackdown on militants in the West Bank for months.

On January 21 – two days after a ceasefire deal with Hamas was struck in Gaza – Israeli troops descended on Jenin as they have done dozens of times since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians, one of the largest West Bank displacements in years.

The Israeli army said that the delegation had deviated from an approved route and entered an area where they were not authorised to be.

"Soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots ... no injuries or damages were reported," the army said.

World reactions

The EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas called on Israel to investigate the incident and hold those responsible accountable.

"Any threats on diplomats' lives are unacceptable," Ms Kallas told journalists in Brussels.

Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot posted on X to demand an explanation from Israel, adding that the Belgian diplomat was unharmed.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also called on the government of Israel to immediately clarify what happened. "Threats against diplomats are unacceptable," he said on X, adding that one of the diplomats was Italian and was "well".

Mr Tajani said he instructed his ministry to summon the Israeli ambassador to Rome to obtain official clarifications on what happened in Jenin.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the incident "violates all diplomatic norms" and "demanded the Israeli side provide the necessary explanations" over the circumstances.

The German Foreign Ministry called on Israel to "promptly investigate the circumstances" of the incident, while Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said he was "shocked and appalled" at reports that the Israeli army fired shots in the vicinity of the diplomats, including two from Ireland who are based in Ramallah.

Turkey said an official from the Turkish Consulate General in Jerusalem was a member of the group and condemned the shooting "in the strongest terms".

"This attack, which endangered the lives of diplomats, is yet another demonstration of Israel’s systematic disregard for international law and human rights," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

Spain said it would summon Israel's most senior representative. "Faced with the intolerable shooting by the Israeli army during the visit of Spanish, EU and other countries' diplomats, we are summoning the head of Israel's embassy in Madrid," Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares wrote on X.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on X that Israeli troops opened fire from inside the Jenin refugee camp to "intimidate the diplomatic delegation that is conducting a field tour around the camp to witness the extent of the suffering endured by the residents of the area".

In a separate statement, the ministry condemned "in the strongest possible terms, the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation to the State of Palestine during a field visit to Jenin Governorate".

The ministry said the delegation was undertaking an official mission to observe and assess the humanitarian situation, and document the continuing violations perpetrated by the occupying Israeli troops against the Palestinian people.

"This deliberate and unlawful act constitutes a blatant and grave breach of international law and of the fundamental principles of diplomatic relations as enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," it said.

The ministry held the Israeli government fully responsible for "this criminal assault" and affirmed such acts will not pass without accountability.