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Occupied Jerusalem: An aide to Israel's public security minister was shot and wounded by a Palestinian gunman on Friday during a tour of an observation point overlooking the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of other people were at the site at the time, Cabinet Minister Avi Dichter said, but no one else was hurt. The deputy director of Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, Dr Emile Hay, said Dichter's bureau chief, Matti Gil, was in stable condition with gunshot wounds to the lower abdomen and pelvis.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Gil was moderately wounded.
Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack, including the military wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement, the militant offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, and two little-known radical Islamic groups inspired by Al Qaida, the Army of the Nation and Protectors of the Homeland.
Dichter and Gil had taken a group of Canadian tourists to the overlook near the town of Sderot to familiarise them with the situation in Israeli communities bordering Gaza, which have come under frequent Palestinian rocket fire. A member of the group told Israel Radio that while Dichter was speaking, a 30-second volley of gunfire burst forth, wounding Gil.
Dichter said the entire attack lasted about 15 minutes, at a time when the overlook was "covered" with people, including 20 people in his group.
Under fire
"The Canadian group behaved terrific, as if they are under fire in Canada every day," throwing themselves down on the ground immediately and crawling toward a military position, he said.
He told Army Radio he didn't think the shots were aimed at him specifically, and that Israeli troops immediately returned fire.
A tour guide with the group said most of the Canadians were Jews and Christians from the Montreal area. About 70 people were standing at the overlook when the shots came without warning, said the guide, Eddy Azran.
"Suddenly we heard a burst of fire and the bullets started hitting around us," Azran said by telephone.
"There was confusion and everyone fell to the ground. We brought the tourists to a nearby army shelter with cement blocks. Then we heard the guy shout 'I'm hit' and I ran to get a first aide kit out of my car." Army Radio reported that tanks and bulldozers entered Gaza after the shooting.
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