IOF Fire on Diplomatic Convoy Carrying
Parents of Injured Peace ActivistPalestine Media Center
7 May, 2003A convoy carrying British diplomats and the parents of a peace activist left in a coma by an Israeli sniper bullet came under fire and were held at gunpoint at a Gaza Strip roadblock yesterday.
The two cars with diplomatic plates carrying Jocelyn and Anthony Hurndall as well as British embassy officials were forced to stop at the Abu Houli crossing on Sunday, even though Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) were notified beforehand of the convoy’s arrival.
The group came under sudden fire, which narrowly passed over the vehicles, just as they were traveling to the spot at the Rafah refugee camp where Tom Hurndall, 21, was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper as he was trying to remove a Palestinian girl out of the line of fire.
Hurndall is currently in a coma at an Israeli hospital, with fears mounting that his chances for recovery were dim.
The British Foreign Office said last night that it had demanded an explanation from Israeli authorities for the warning shot fired at the cars, which also carried the Hurndall’s 12-year-old son, as well as the political and defense attachés in Tel Aviv.
The incident raised fears over the conduct of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), who have killed three foreigners in this southern Gaza Strip town in the past few months, including of late a British cameraman, James Miller, who was shot in the neck.
A single shot was fired from one of two watchtowers standing above the roadblock, which caused the cars to come to a halt.
“We were passing through the checkpoint very, very slowly when there was the sound of a bullet – it was like the sound of a large stone coming off the car,” Mrs. Hurndall said.
“What struck me was the ludicrousness of the situation. Here we were, the parents and brother of someone who has been wounded by Israeli Defence Forces and who then fire a warning shot over our car for no apparent reason.” She added.
Just then, one of the diplomats, Andrew Whitaker, stepped out of the vehicle with his hands above his head to talk to the IOF soldiers hiding in the tower.
In the meantime, the defense attaché, Colonel Tom Howard, telephoned the Israeli occupation army for an explanation, given the fact that he had called ten minutes prior to the incident to inform the authorities of the convoy’s arrival.
“There’s a complete lack of control. They fire without warning,” said Mr. Hurndall.
“I can confirm that a single warning shot was fired as staff from the embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem crossed the Abu Houli checkpoint in Gaza. No one was hurt,” an IOF spokesman said.The IOF army claimed the British vehicles had “failed to follow the instructions given to them by the soldiers to drive slower and approach the checkpoint in a manner ordered by the soldiers”.
The Hurndalls had gone to the Gaza Strip town of Rafah to gather information on their son’s shooting.
However, Mr. Hurndall says the IOF army was being uncooperative and that until they finish with their own inquiry, they would not talk to them.
“The Israelis say Tom was caught in crossfire. I've taken statements from eight or nine people now, all of which are almost identical in saying it was a single shot from the sniper from the tower. Yet the Israelis have not begun to ask us anything about that and we've no idea what their version is beyond the initial statement.” He said.
The Hurndall family is launching an appeal to raise £20,000 to bring Tom back to Britain by air ambulance.