UK calls for investigation after IDF fired warning shots as British diplomats travelled through West Bank
The UK government is calling for Israel to launch an investigation after the country’s troops fired warning shots while British diplomats were travelling through the West Bank.
Diplomats from Ireland, France, Germany and Turkey were also travelling with the delegation in the city of Jenin when the gunshots rang out on Wednesday.
All four countries have condemned the shooting, which comes after Western nations criticised Israel’s latest offensive in Gaza.
Two British diplomats are understood to be among the group of around 20 people who have been confirmed as safe following the incident in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Footage shows the moment members of the delegation were gathered outside before fleeing the scene as the gunshots rang out.
Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer has described the incident in Jenin as “unacceptable”.
He wrote on X: “I have spoken to our diplomats who were affected. Civilians must always be protected, and diplomats allowed to do their jobs. There must be a full investigation and those responsible should be held accountable.”
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Members of the delegation flee as gunshots are fired
In response to the situation, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has announced measures, including financial restrictions and travel bans, targeting prominent settler leader Daniella Weiss and two other individuals.
The measures also target two illegal outposts and two organisations accused of backing violence against Palestinian communities.
It came after Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris condemned the shooting in “the strongest terms” and France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said he would summon the Israeli ambassador over the incident.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign ministry said the shooting showed Israel’s “systematic disregard for international law” and called for an immediate investigation.
Germany’s foreign office had earlier condemned what it referred to as “unprovoked gunfire”, adding: “We are fortunate that nothing worse occurred.”
The Israeli military said the delegation had “deviated from the approved route” of their visit and Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldiers fired warning shots to push them from the area.
The IDF apologised and said it would contact all countries involved in the visit.
The shooting took place a day after the UK announced it would cease all talks of a trade deal with Israel, and summoned the country’s ambassador to make clear Britain is unhappy with the situation in Gaza.
Members of the delegation flee as gunshots are fired
Hospitals in northern Gaza encircled by IDF
Elsewhere, staff and aid groups have said that two of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals have been encircled by Israeli troops – preventing anyone from entering or leaving.
The Indonesian and al Awda hospitals are among the region’s only remaining medical facilities, with both coming under fire this week.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation, has warned Israel’s military operations and evacuation orders “are stretching the health system beyond the breaking point”.
Just 20 of the territory’s 36 hospitals remain partially functioning – with centres in northern Gaza now said to be “at a serious risk of shutting down completely”.
According to the WHO, there have been almost 700 attacks on medical facilities since the war began.
Israel’s military has accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centres and to hide fighters, but has only provided evidence for some of these claims.
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UK unveils new aid package to Gaza
Elsewhere, UK ministers announced they will send £4m of aid to Gaza, including essential medicines, safe drinking water and food parcels.
Minister for development Jenny Chapman, who is visiting Israel and the occupied territories, said the lack of aid reaching Gazans is “appalling”.
She added: “The Israeli government’s failure to allow full humanitarian access to aid workers is abhorrent. Far too few trucks are crossing into Gaza.
“The UN has warned nearly half a million Palestinians, including children, are facing starvation.
“The UK is clear – Israel will not achieve security through prolonging the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
It comes as British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said humanitarian aid needs to get into Gaza “at pace”.
On Wednesday, Downing Street did not rule out more sanctions on Israeli ministers after a report said Number 10 and other countries were drawing up plans to target key figures in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Sir Keir’s official spokesman said he would not speculate on future sanctions but added it has been made clear that if Israel does not cease its military offensive and lift aid restrictions then the UK will take further “concrete actions”.
The shooting in the West Bank came hours before the Israeli military said 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food and medical equipment had travelled from the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
Palestinian workers unload an aid truck, in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
The transfer of aid into Gaza has become an increasingly controversial topic over the last couple of days as the international community fears the territory is on the brink of famine.
The UN said earlier that no aid has been distributed in Gaza since Mr Netanyahu said an 11-week blockade on the territory had been lifted.
On Wednesday evening, the Israeli prime minister held a news conference where he said he would not allow European leaders to “influence” Israel after he was asked about the diplomatic row over the gunfire in Jenin and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“We have to complete the war,” Mr Netahayu said. “We are going to continue what is needed to end the war.”
He said it was a “mark of shame” that Britain was sanctioning Israel and not Hamas, calling the sanctions an “absolutely horrible thing”.
The government has been temporarily blocked from concluding the Chagos Islands deal by a late-night High Court injunction.
Ministers had been expected to complete a deal that would have seen the UK hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius in the coming hours.
But in an emergency injunction granted early on Thursday, brought against the Foreign Office, Mr Justice Goose allowed “interim relief” to Bertrice Pompe, who had previously taken steps to bring legal action over the deal.
Ms Pompe is a Chagossian woman who sees the deal as a betrayal of their rights.
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The order, granted at 2.25am, states the government may take “no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer”.
A hearing is taking place at the High Court this morning, with crowds gathered in support of the block.
The location of the Chagos Islands
The government insisted this morning the Chagos Islands deal is the “right thing” for the UK.
A spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”
It was expected that Sir Keir Starmer would attend a virtual ceremony today to formally hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite heavy criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK.
The government has argued international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius mean this handover is necessary.
As part of the deal, the UK will lease back a military base on the archipelago for 99 years.
Robert Jenrick, the former justice secretary, told Sky News that the Chagos Islands deal is a “sell-out for British interests”.
He said: “You’re seeing British sovereign territory being given away to an ally of China and billions of pounds of British taxpayers money being spent for the privilege.
“So, if this group can force the government to think twice, then all power to them.”
With this injunction in place, Sir Keir can no longer legally complete the deal.
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Ms Pompe, who filed the application for interim relief, believes the British government is acting with disregard for the human rights of the Chagossian people.
She has argued completion of the deal would amount to a breach of the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act.
Chagossians are the former residents of the Chagos Islands, who were removed from the islands, predominantly to Mauritius, between the mid-1960s and early-1970s.
Those born on the islands and their children hold British nationality, but subsequent generations born outside British territory have no entitlement to it.
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