Three British parliamentarians came under gunfire during a visit to the Rafah flashpoint in southern Gaza, but nobody was hurt, a British official said on Saturday.
The official said it was "too early to say" whether the parliamentarians came under fire from Israeli soldiers or Palestinian gunmen in the militant stronghold of Rafah, along the Gaza-Egypt border on Friday.
"They just reported the incident to us and as I said we will follow that up with the Israelis," the official told Reuters. Asked whether it was Israeli soldiers who fired at the group he said: "I think it's too early to say".
Israel Radio quoted one of the parliamentarians, Baroness Northover, as saying that soldiers in an Israeli observation post opened machinegun fire at the group as they toured a neighbourhood of Rafah on Friday.
It quoted Baroness Northover of the Liberal Democrats as saying the shots continued when the group approached a United Nations vehicle that was escorting them around Rafah and that a bullet hit a nearby building.
An Israeli army spokesman said the military was looking into the report.
Israeli soldiers have been accused of firing at UN convoys and foreign diplomats touring flashpoint areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip several times since a Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.
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