On Wednesday, a group of diplomats from nearly two dozen countries fled to hide during a trip to the city of Cisjordan in Jenin while Israeli troops pulled in the air to warn them.
No injury was reported in the confrontation, which involved diplomats from Great Britain, Canada, France, China, Russia and the European Union, among others, according to the Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli defense forces have apologized for the incident, which is required to pursue acute ties between Jerusalem and the expanses of the international community in the world of Israeli War Management in Gaza and its treatment of Palestinians.
The army said it had ordered an investigation, but also said that the delegation had moved from a pre-approved route. Military officials had to be talks with representatives of the countries involved in order to clean the air on the incident, the army said.
“The FDIs regret the drawbacks caused,” he said in a statement.
There was no immediate commentary on foreign missions participating in the delegation on Wednesday.
Israeli soldiers opened fire during a delegation of foreign diplomats, including around 30 ambassadors and consuls, who visited the Jenin region. https://t.co/cde96brrko pic.twitter.com/rr8znbkng3
– Conflict report (@ClashReport) May 21, 2025
In the videos published by the AP, soldiers on a road blocked by a large yellow door can be seen aimed at rifles and shots heard like dozens of people who are seen who leave the area, some of them showing signs of minor panic while hiding in a convoy of cars.
A diplomat present during the visit confirmed to AFP that he had heard “repeated shots” coming from the interior of the Jenin refugee camp.
The group, which also included representatives of Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, India and elsewhere, had turned into the city of Northern Circère-Western, which has been at the center of several Israeli anti-military operations in recent years. The visit included a visit to the headquarters of the Governor of Jenin, according to the official spokesperson for AP Wafa.
In a statement, the DA Ministry of Affairs Affairs condemned “the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire, a diplomatic delegation accredited to the state of Palestine during a visit to the field to the governor of Jenin.” The FDI said the troops fired in the air.
The members of a diplomatic delegation from the European Union are held behind a door to the eastern entrance to the Jenin camp during a visit to the city of Jenin, on May 21, 2025 (Mohammad Mansour / AFP)
According to the Israeli army, the incident occurred when the delegation left the route agreed in coordination with the army “because the area is an active combat zone”.
The group “has dismissed the route and entered an area where they were not allowed to be,” said the army, confirming that the troops stationed there fired warning fire in the air, causing any damage or injury.
The army radio quoted an Israeli defense official saying that the soldiers who pulled in the air were not aware of the identity of the group who approached the door and had sought to warn them.
The FDI said that the commander of the West Bank division, Brig. General Yaki Dolf immediately launched an investigation into the incident once it has become clear that the group approaching the door was foreign diplomats.
Brig. General Hisham Ibrahim, the chief of the civil administration – an organization of the Ministry of Defense Part of COGAT – ordered the officers of the unit to speak immediately with representatives of the countries involved.
“He will soon organize personal conversations with diplomats to update them on the conclusions of the initial investigation,” said the FDI.
Israeli security forces seen during a military operation in the city of Jenin of the West Bank on February 25, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh / Flash90)
The incident occurred a few days after the United Kingdom, France and Canada published a strongly formulated joint declaration on Monday, qualifying the amount of assistance authorized to enter “completely inadequate” Gaza and threatening “concrete actions” against Israel, including the sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom suspended free trade talks with Israel for its intensification assault on Gaza and issued a new series of sanctions against the settlers of the West Bank.
“I want to record today that we are horrified by the escalation of Israel,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Oren Marmorstein, described the new sanctions as “unjustified and regrettable” and said that Israel and the United Kingdom had not spoken of free trade.
In addition, the head of the European Union foreign policy Kaja Kallas said that the block examined an EU pact governing trade links with Israel on his conduct of war in Gaza.
