Israeli soldiers opened fire at Arab and foreign diplomats during their visit to the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank yesterday, prompting widespread international condemnation.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned “the heinous crime” committed by the occupation forces by directly targeting with live ammunition a diplomatic delegation accredited to the State of Palestine.
Ahmed Al Deek, the political adviser to the ministry who was leading the delegation, said, “They fired at us madly... We condemn this reckless act by the Israeli army, which gave the diplomatic delegation a vivid impression of the life the Palestinians are leading. We hope the members of the diplomatic delegation will convey this image and reflect it clearly.”
A foreign diplomat who was part of the delegation confirmed that he heard “repeated gunfire” from inside the Jenin camp, whose residents were displaced by the Israeli military. “We were visiting with the Governor of Jenin to inspect the destruction in the area, which has been the site of intensive Israeli military operations for months,” he added.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the visiting delegation included diplomats from France, the UK, Canada, Spain, Russia, the European Union, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Portugal, China, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Lithuania, Poland, Japan, Romania, Mexico, Sri Lanka, India and Chile.
Egypt firmly rejected the incident, calling it a violation of all diplomatic norms and demanded that Israel provide the necessary clarifications regarding its circumstances.
Belgium also called on Israel to offer convincing explanations, while Italy deemed the threat to diplomats “unacceptable.” Both Italy and France announced that they had summoned the Israeli ambassadors following the incident.
Spain also summoned the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires after the shooting at the diplomats.
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