A group of foreign diplomats came under fire while visiting the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority. The diplomats were on an official mission to observe the humanitarian situation in Jenin when shots rang out.
An aid worker, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said a delegation of about 20 diplomats was being briefed about the situation in Jenin by the Palestinian Authority. The group of regional, European and Western diplomats were standing near the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp when they heard gunshots just before 2pm local time, said witnesses.
No one was injured in the incident.
Footage posted on social media showed the delegation scrambling for cover just inside the eastern entrance to the Jenin camp as loud shots ring out.
A video released by the Palestinian foreign ministry showed two men in Israeli army uniform pointing guns at a group of people from behind metal gates while the shots ring out.
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The Israeli military said the visit had been approved, but the delegation “deviated from the approved route” and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots to distance them from the area. The IDF apologised for the incident and said they will contact all of the relevant countries involved in the visit.
The delegation included diplomats from China, Japan, Mexico and several European, including France, Spain and Italy.
'Threats against diplomats are unacceptable'
The incident sparked condemnations from several European capitals on Wednesday.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani slammed the firing of shots on diplomats and called on Israel to "immediately clarify" its actions.
"I have just spoken to Alessandro Tutino, the Deputy Consul General of Italy in Jerusalem, who is well and who was among the diplomats who were apparently shot at near the Jenin refugee camp," Tajani said on X.
"We call on the government of Israel to immediately clarify what happened. Threats against diplomats are unacceptable," he said.
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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on Israel to investigate the incident and hold those responsible "accountable".
"Any threats on diplomats' lives are unacceptable," Kallas told journalists in Brussels.
Spain "strongly" condemned the incident, foreign ministry sources told AFP.
"There was a Spaniard in the group of diplomats who is well. We are in contact with other affected countries to jointly co-ordinate a response to what happened, which we strongly condemn," the sources said.
The Israeli military, which in January launched a major operation in the Jenin area to stamp out militant groups, has recently installed metal gates as seen in the video at the entrances to the camp.
Ahmad al-Deek, political advisor for the Palestinian foreign ministry, told AFP he was leading the delegation.
"We condemn this reckless act by the Israeli army, especially at a time when it had given the diplomatic delegation an impression of the life the Palestinian people are living", he said.
Since Israel launched its large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank the Jenin refugee camp has been taken over by troops.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said that by March 31, the operation had displaced some 16,000 people in Jenin.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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