A number of countries have condemned the Israeli military’s actions after troops fired warning shots in the vicinity of a diplomatic delegation on a visit to the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military accused the group of straying from an approved route and said warning shots were fired into the air “to distance them away”. It said it “regrets the inconvenience caused”.
No injuries were reported in the incident, which happened in the city of Jenin, where Israel has been fighting armed Palestinian groups for years.
Many countries, some of whom had diplomats on the visit, have condemned Israel’s actions – including Spain, Egypt, France, Turkey, Ireland and Italy.
Some nations involved have said they will summon Israeli ambassadors to account for the incident, calling for investigations and explanations from Israel.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, has accused the Israeli security forces of deliberately targeting the delegation in a “heinous crime”.
It said the group were there on an official visit with Palestinian authorities to “observe and assess the humanitarian situation and document the ongoing violations perpetrated by the [Israeli] occupying forces against the Palestinian people”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that its troops had fired “warning shots” to ensure the delegation did not enter “an area where they were not authorised to be” in Jenin.
It said the diplomats had “deviated from the approved route” and that it “regrets the inconvenience caused” by the incident.
The IDF added it would speak to representatives of the nations involved to update them on the result of an internal investigation into the incident.
A European diplomat said the group had gone to the area “to see the destruction” caused by months of Israeli operations.
The PA said dozens of countries were involved, including Egypt, Jordan, Spain, Turkey, France, Ireland and the UK.
Condemnation has come in from nations in Europe and the wider Middle East, with particular criticism saved for the risk it posed to the lives of diplomats.
Spain, Italy and France were among those that said they would summon their Israeli ambassadors to clarify what happened, while the EU’s foreign policy chief said any threats to the lives of diplomats are “unacceptable” and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Ireland confirmed two of its diplomats, based in Ramallah, were among those in the group, and Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said it would be “demanding answers from Israel on exactly how this came to happen”.
Egypt said the shots being fired on the group “violates all diplomatic norms”, while Turkey said it was “yet another demonstration of Israel’s systematic disregard for international law and human rights”.
Both nations called for an immediate investigation and explanation from Israel.
The Israeli military has been fighting armed Palestinian factions based there for a number of years. Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law – a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year – although Israel disputes this.
