Diplomatic delegations from the European Union, Arab and Asian countries were exposed to Israeli fires while occupied West Bank Jenin refugee camps, Palestinian authorities (PA), and many countries confirmed.
On Wednesday, the diplomats had made an official mission to assess Jenin’s humanitarian situation there as a broad Israeli military attack.
The Israeli Army said the soldiers had deviated from a previously agreed route and fired warning shots to move the delegation and entered an area not permitted to exist. There were no injuries.
The commander of Israeli Civic Administration in the West Bank ordered Israeli officers to speak to delegates of the delegation, “will soon have personal conversations with the diplomats and update them on the results of their initial investigation into the matter,” the military said in a statement.
Al Jazeera’s Hamda Salhat, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said the incident was a reality on the ground as Al Jazeera is banned from the West Bank and Israel, and that anyone on the occupied West Bank could come under Israeli fires.
“These places on Palestinian territory are fully surrounded. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly uprooted from their homes as part of ongoing military raids in Jenin, Talcarem and surrounding areas north of the occupying west bank,” she added.
Social media videos show members of a delegation who will interview media as shots ring near the group and force them to run for cover.
Footage verified by Sanad’s fact-checking agency in Al Jazeera showed two Israeli soldiers standing nearby with their rifles pointing to diplomats.
Occupation forces opened a fierce fire from inside the Jenin refugee camp and threatened diplomatic delegations taking field tours around the camp to witness the extent of the suffering that residents of the area endured.
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At the time, around 20 diplomats had been explaining the situation for Jenin. Aid workers speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. Witnesses said it was unclear where the shot came from and that no one was injured.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and foreign expatriates were accused of “heinous crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces deliberately targeting certified diplomatic mandates.”
Revil and Request for Investigation
Other European and Arab governments have added their own denunciations in search of answers.
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the fire “on the strongest terms” and said Ankara is seeking immediate investigation and accountability.
“This attack, which puts the lives of diplomats at risk, is another demonstration of a systematic disregard for Israel’s international law and human rights,” the ministry said in a statement, adding diplomats from the consulate in Jerusalem was one of the delegations.
French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barott said he would summon the Israeli ambassador. Written in X, Barot called the incident “unacceptable” and said the ambassador needed to explain it.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said, “I was shocked and I was appalled by the report. [Israeli military] Near today’s visit to Jenin, I fired a shot by a group of diplomats, including two Irish diplomats based in Ramallah. Luckily, no one was injured. This is completely unacceptable and I denounce it in the strongest terms. ”
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation have called for an “immediate and transparent” investigation into the incident.
Ireland and Spain are two of the EU’s most powerful pro-Palestinian voices, calling for an end to the Israeli war in Gaza and the suffering of the enclave and the West Bank population.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni demanded an explanation, saying the vice-consul was among those who fired fire. The Italian ambassador to Israel will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to explain.
EU foreign policy director Kaja Kallas said it is unacceptable to fire even warning shots.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We call on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibility and to halt Israel’s invasion of Gaza and escalation in the West Bank,” the statement posted to X said.
Jenin, along with Tulkarem and Nur Shams, has been the main focus of a massive Israeli military operation on the northwest shore since January. Since then, Israeli forces have accelerated the already ongoing process of forced mass displacement of Palestinians, demolishing households and mass arrests.
About 40,000 Palestinians remain evacuated to the northwest shore, according to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Cooperation.
