British lawmakers say IDF shot at them

A delegation of British parliamentarians says they came under fire from an Israel Defense Forces position near the Philadelphi Road in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

The IDF denies shots were fired against the delegation. It says that shooting did occur on a number of occasions but that it was not directed against individuals or groups of people.

Baroness Northover, the Liberal Democrat party's House of Lords spokeswoman on international development issues, said the group was traveling under United Nations supervision near the Rafah refugee camp when machine-gun fire from an Israeli observation post passed closely above their heads. A large number of children were nearby, she added.

The group then moved closer to where marked UN vehicles were parked, and another shot hit a building next to them, knocking pieces of masonry to the ground near her, Northover said in a statement.

"This incident has shown me first hand the indiscriminate violence faced by Palestinians on a daily basis," she said. "If the Israeli Defense Forces are prepared to shoot at a delegation of parliamentarians under the supervision of the UN, one wonders what treatment ordinary Palestinians are given."

She said while the IDF was not trying to hit the group, which also included Labour Party legislator Huw Irranca-Davies and Conservative Crispin Blunt, "they did intend for us to leave the area."

Northover said that when the lawmakers returned to Britain they would seek an explanation from Israel's ambassador to London.

"It should be emphasized that the delegation did not coordinate their arrival with either the Foreign Ministry or the Defense Ministry and that only late Saturday afternoon a formal complaint was received," after the claim was aired in the media, the IDF said.

Israeli officials learned of the shooting only after journalists called to ask for their comments.