IDF fires warning shots as diplomatic tour visits West Bank

Israeli army vehicles are seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

OTTAWA — The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday it “regrets the inconvenience caused” by warning shots it fired as diplomats toured the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday.

International media reports say that a Canadian was part of this tour, though Global Affairs Canada has not confirmed that.

A video of the incident circulating online shows members of the tour group speaking to cameras near a large yellow gate. Gunshots can be heard as the group hurries away from the gate and goes around a street corner. In one video, two soldiers can be seen pointing guns in the direction of the group.

In its statement, the IDF said the tour group “deviated” from its approved route and soldiers fired warning shots to get it to move away from an area they were not permitted to visit. The IDF says no one was injured in the incident.

Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s foreign minister, said in a social media post the situation is unacceptable and Israel’s ambassador to France has been summoned to explain it.

Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani said he is also calling on the Israeli ambassador in Italy to explain the incident.

The IDF said it launched an inquiry into what happened and will speak with the affected diplomats to update them on its findings.

Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson said that when diplomats go to observe a combat area, their safety is not guaranteed.

“Things happen which certainly are not probably intentional on the part of the Israeli government, but these things have happened in the past. We’ve had Canadian observers killed, for example, when we were doing peace monitoring in Vietnam and in other situations,” he said.

Robertson said that while these are “serious incidents,” he attributes Wednesday’s incident to the “warlike” conditions in the West Bank.

In a joint statement issued earlier this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron threatened to impose “targeted sanctions” on Israel in response to its renewed military offensive in Gaza and the “wholly inadequate” amount of food aid allowed into the enclave.

The letter also stated the leaders’ opposition to “any attempt” to expand Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

On Tuesday, the U.K. issued sanctions against what it called three individuals, two “illegal settler outposts” and two organizations “supporting violence against Palestinian communities” in the West Bank.

While Britain also paused negotiations with Israel on a new trade deal, goods continue to flow between the two countries.

Robertson said he expects to see Canada issuing more declarations alongside European allies in the future.

Carney has said Canada needs to stand on its own, now that relations with the U.S. have soured over President Donald Trump’s tariffs and calls for Canada’s annexation.

Canada has sanctioned people and individuals for extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank in the past. The most recent round of sanctions was announced in September of last year.

Trump was asked Wednesday if he planned to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israeli military operations in Gaza and mounting international pressure for a ceasefire. The president did not respond to the question.

Robertson said he’d be surprised if the U.S. was not aware in advance that this joint letter from Canada, the U.K. and France was going to be released.

“Much of foreign policy, particularly with the United States, is conducted on the premise of ‘no surprises,’ and that’s what you do with your allies. You let them know what you’re doing,” he said.

“I think you’re going to see more (of) Canada taking a kind of strategically pragmatic approach to foreign policy and no longer moving completely in tandem with what has been our closest ally and partner in the United States.”

In a social media post late Monday evening, Netanyahu accused the leaders of Canada, France and the U.K. of “offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities.”

Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, welcomed the letter in an online statement Tuesday, calling it “a significant step in the right direction.”

Article by David Baxter.

With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Washington.