The protesters, relatives of Palestinian prisoners held in
Israeli prisons, were angry about comments Michele Alliot-Marie reportedly made
the day before in support of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured in a
cross-border raid by Palestinians and held in Gaza since 2006.
A member of Alliot-Marie's entourage was hit in the head and
later examined at an Israeli hospital, according to the spokeswoman's office at
Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
Protesters were waiting for Alliot-Marie as she crossed from
Israel into Gaza through the Erez Crossing, lying on the road and jumping on
her vehicle. Hamas police eventually dispersed those protesters, but more
gathered outside a United Nations office in Gaza City that was her first stop
in the Palestinian territory, and later followed her to a nearby hospital,
pelting her motorcade with eggs.
AP Television footage showed Alliot-Marie narrowly dodging a
shoe thrown by a protester as she climbed into a jeep under heavy guard.
Alliot-Marie made no public statement Thursday after meeting
with Shalit's parents in Jerusalem, but the soldier's father, Noam Shalit, said
afterward that the minister had called on Hamas to allow the Red Cross to visit
his son for the first time. He referred to his son's capture as a "war crime."
The Palestinians linked the comments to Alliot-Marie, although she did not say
anything publicly before or after the meeting.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the statements reflected
a "total bias toward Israel" and ignored the thousands of Palestinians
held in Israeli prisons. "They are the true prisoners of war," he
said.
In keeping with the policy of the European Union, which
considers Hamas a terrorist organization, Alliot-Marie did not meet with Hamas
officials during her half-day visit.
Speaking at a French cultural center in Gaza, she called for
the establishment of a Palestinian state and security for Israel.
