A group of diplomats from nearly two dozen countries were seen fleeing for cover during a trip to the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday as Israeli troops fired in the air to warn them away.
No injuries were reported in the confrontation, which involved diplomats from Britain, Canada, France, China, Russia and the European Union, among others, according to the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces apologized for the incident, which is liable to further sour ties between Jerusalem and swaths of the international community amid mounting global criticism of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its treatment of Palestinians.
The army said it ordered an inquiry, but also said the delegation had strayed from a preapproved route. Military officials were expected to hold talks with representatives from the countries involved in order to clear the air over the incident, the army said.
“The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused,” it said in a statement.
There were no immediate comments from foreign missions taking part in Wednesday’s delegation.
In videos published by the PA, soldiers on a road blocked off by a large yellow gate can be seen aiming rifles and shots are heard ringing out as dozens of people are seen leaving the area, some of them showing signs of minor panic as they take cover in a convoy of cars.
A diplomat present during the visit confirmed to AFP he had heard “repeated shots” coming from inside the Jenin refugee camp.
The group, which also included representatives from Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, India and elsewhere, had been touring the northern West Bank city, which has been the focus of several major Israeli anti-terror operations in recent years. The tour included a visit to the headquarters of the Jenin governorate, according to official PA mouthpiece WAFA.
In a statement, the PA foreign ministry condemned “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 IDF said troops fired in the air.
According to the Israeli military, the incident occurred when the delegation left the route agreed upon in coordination with the army “due to the area being an active combat zone.”
The group “deviated from the route and entered an area where they were not authorized to be,” the army said, confirming that troops stationed there fired warning shots in the air, causing no damage or injuries.
Army Radio quoted an Israeli defense official saying that the soldiers who fired in the air were unaware of the identity of the group that approached the gate, and had sought to warn them away.
The IDF said the commander of the West Bank division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf, immediately launched an inquiry into the incident once it became clear that the group approaching the gate were the foreign diplomats.
Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, the head of the Civil Administration — a Defense Ministry body part of COGAT — ordered officers in the unit to immediately speak with representatives of the countries involved.
“He will soon hold personal conversations with the diplomats to update them on the findings of the initial inquiry,” the IDF said.
The incident came days after the UK, France and Canada issued a sharply worded joint statement Monday calling the amount of aid being permitted to enter Gaza “wholly inadequate,” and threatening “concrete actions” against Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, the UK suspended free trade talks with Israel over its intensifying assault on Gaza and issued a fresh round of sanctions against West Bank settlers.
“I want to put on record today that we’re horrified by the escalation from Israel,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein called the new sanctions “unjustified and regrettable” and claimed Israel and the UK had not been talking about free trade.
Separately, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was reviewing an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.