“The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused,” the Israel Defense Forces said, adding there would be an inquiry and the countries involved would be updated about its findings.
The diplomats included delegates from the EU, France, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Russia, China and elsewhere, according to the Palestinian Authority, which organized the visit.
“A visit to Jenin, in which one of our diplomats was participating, was fired upon by Israeli soldiers. This is unacceptable,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, adding that France will summon the Israeli ambassador “to explain.”
Germany’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel’s “unprovoked shelling” in a statement, and said it was a matter of luck that “nothing worse had happened.” The ministry said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had a phone call with diplomats who were on the site and he will ask his Israeli counterpart to “clarify the circumstances.”
Belgian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot said that a Belgian diplomat was also involved in the incident. “Fortunately, he is all right,” he said, adding that “Belgium demands convincing explanations from Israel.”
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry slammed the incident as a “heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation.”