Israel rejected on Tuesday sharp criticism from France of an Israeli raid against Hamas in Gaza that lightly injured a local employee of the French consulate living a few hundred meters from the target.
French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Tuesday the head of France''s Gaza consulate, Franco-Palestinian citizen Majdi Shakura, was hurt in the airstrike on the Palestinian territory on the night of Sunday to Monday.
The blast blew out the windows of his house, causing the diplomat and his 13-year-old daughter to be cut by flying glass.
The Israeli army raid came in response to a Kassam rocket that had been fired into Israel on Sunday from the targeted Gaza site.
"France regrets this airstrike," Valero said. "While being committed to Israeli security, France notes the absolute necessity of avoiding all harm to civilians. The Israeli authorities have been reminded of this imperative,” he said.
The spokesman said France maintained a presence in Gaza to support the civilian population, and was represented there through a consular branch and a cultural center.
"We are obviously sorry for the light injuries incurred by the family, but the target of the attack, quite far away from their home, was a Hamas cell responsible for shooting rockets on Israeli civilians who suffer much more serious injuries – and even death – when Hamas rockets are fired," said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
In October, 52 rockets and six mortar shells were fired into Israel from Gaza. The Israeli army said it would not tolerate continued rocket fire against Israeli cities and that Hamas would be held responsible for such attacks.
The airstrike and its diplomatic aftermath came just days after an embarrassing light was shone on Israel-France relations when French President Nicolas Sarkozy was overheard calling Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a "liar" in a private conversation with US President Barack Obama at the G20 summit in Cannes.