Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned on Wednesday, 21 May, the Israeli military for firing on a delegation of foreign diplomats, among them the Egyptian ambassador to Ramallah, during a visit to Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the Ministry denounced the incident as a “clear violation of all diplomatic norms” and urged Israeli authorities to provide an official explanation of the circumstances surrounding the gunfire.
The delegation, which included several heads of foreign missions, had been visiting Jenin as part of a tour organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to a correspondent from WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, Israeli soldiers stationed in the Jenin camp opened heavy, direct fire on the diplomatic delegation as it toured the area to observe conditions in the camp and the ongoing siege.
During the delegation’s visit, the governor of Jenin offered a comprehensive overview of the city’s economic situation, outlining the impact of the ongoing aggression on local infrastructure and commercial activity. He also highlighted the plight of the 22,000 displaced residents forced from their homes in the camp by Israeli forces.
Last Thursday, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong condemnation of Israel’s ongoing military operations targeting Palestinian civilians in Gaza, following a series of airstrikes that killed over 100 people in a single day.
A report by the UN Human Rights Office found that in the past year, the Government of Israel intensified settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by transferring its population into the area and unlawfully demolishing Palestinian homes, while settler violence escalated.
