A group of Canadians came under fire Friday when a sniper took aim at Israel's Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, who was serving as the group's tour guide at an observation point overlooking the Gaza Strip.
Dichter's aid, Matti Gil, was shot in the lower abdomen and pelvis but is recovering and in stable condition. No one else was injured.
The Canadians were part of the Canada-Israel Committee's board of directors and were visiting a site near the town of Sderot. The group's 15 members wanted to familiarize themselves with the situation in Israeli communities bordering Gaza.
A member of the Canadian delegation, Moshe Ronen of Toronto, said he could actually see the shells of the bullets.
"The shots kept coming and there were a lot of bullet shells landing all around us, so it was quite scary,'' said Ronen, chairman of the board of directors of the Canada-Israel Committee.
"All of sudden, we saw the minister's aide fall to the ground and we realized they were actually shooting at us,'' he said.
They were told by security to lie on the ground and not to move.
Hamas released a video Friday that shows the attack from the Palestinian side of the border as the sniper, dressed in camouflage, opens fire.
"The whole hill was covered with many other people from other groups, when fire was opened from the Palestinian side," Dichter said.
Earlier in the day, Ronen told CTV's Canada AM that the group came under fire for about 30 seconds. He called the attack a "pretty scary incident."
Ronen said Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent the Canadians a message of support from the NATO Summit in Romania. He said they also received a call from Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert.
The group says it will continue its tour of communities along the Israeli side of the border with Palestinians.
Sara Saber-Freedman, who was part of the group, told Â鶹´«Ã½net on Friday that she still hadn't fully processed what happened.
"We dove for cover behind a number of cars and pretty much stayed with our faces in the dirt for about five minutes," she said. "This is a very upsetting kind of thing to experience."
She said there was another tour group nearby that included children as young as 2 years old.
Dichter said the Canadians quickly ducked and fell to the ground.
"The Canadian group behaved terrific, as if they are under fire in Canada every day,'' he told Israeli Army Radio.
Israel's Ambassador to Canada, Alan Baker, expressed shock when hearing of the sniper attack, according to a statement released Friday morning by embassy spokesperson Orit Kremer. The statement said Baker was thankful no one was killed.
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier also issued a statement condemning the attack.
With a report from CTV Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer
