Israeli forces fired near a convoy of foreign diplomats at the entrance to the occupied West Bank refugee camp on Tuesday, sparking widespread condemnation and calls for accountability.
According to Ahmed Al-Diek, an aide to the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Israeli forces threatened the delegation and fired warning shots to prevent them from entering the camp, which has been under Israeli siege since January 21.
Diplomatic Delegations – 35 ambassadors and representatives, including Egypt, Jordan, China, EU, Russia, France, and the UK, visited Jenin to witness firsthand the ongoing Israeli military operations. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry had organized a visit after a similar diplomatic tour of Talcarem last week.
Kaja Karas, head of foreign policy for the European Union, condemned the incident and urged Israel to conduct a full investigation and ensure accountability. “The threat to the lives of diplomats is unacceptable,” she said, stating Israel’s obligations under the Vienna Convention to protect foreign envoys. Western diplomats described the incident as “a serious incident” and refused to apologise from the Israeli military, who dubbed the episode merely “inconvenient.”
In a statement, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called the incident a “presentation of the occupying regime’s rogative arrogance” and a serious violation of international law. Hamas warned that Israel’s ongoing attacks on Jenin, Talcarem and Nablus were part of a broader strategy to annex the land and drive away the Palestinians, but confirmed that unshakable resistance would ultimately defeat these targets.