French diplomat injured in Israeli air strike
Paris says envoy to Gaza Strip, his wife and teenage daughter were among casualties from latest missile attacks.
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| One Palestinian was killed and four others injured in the same attack that wounded the French consul’s family [Reuters] |
France’s consul to the Gaza Strip, his wife and 13-year-old daughter were injured during an Israeli air strike on Sunday night, said Bernard Valero, French foreign ministry spokesman.
Valero told reporters on Tuesday that the three were were hit by shrapnel at their residence in Gaza, which is located 200 metres from the site of an Israeli missile attack.
“France condemns the consequences of the raid,” he said.
“While we are all for Israeli security, France recalls the utmost necessity to avoid civilian harm,” Valero adde.
Though Valero did not comment on the nature of their injuries, French media reported that Majda Shaqqoura, the consul’s wife, suffered a haemorrhage and miscarried.
The raid, which also killed one Palestinian policeman and wounded four others, is likely to strain already difficult relations between France and Israel.
Fresh Israeli raids
Israeli planes carried out two raids on the Gaza Strip overnight, wounding a Palestinian, a Hamas official said on Wednesday.
The raids were on targets in Beit-Lahya and northern Gaza, said a member of the security service of Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory.
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed a raid on “terrorist sites” in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian fighters in Gaza fired two rockets into southern Israel on Tuesday evening, damaging a farm building but causing no casualties, Israeli police said.
The rockets were a retaliatory strike following the death of a Palestinian policeman in Israeli air raids on Sunday.