Showing anger Relatives of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails try to block French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie from entering the Gaza Strip as security personnel try to clear the way, Friday. (Reuters)n ALLIOT-MARIE'S CAR PELTED WITH EGGS AND SHOESGAZA: A crowd of angry Palestinians mobbed the car of French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie as she toured through the Gaza Strip Friday, pelting it with eggs and shoes, witnesses said. The protesters were relatives of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and said they were furious over comments attributed to the minister a day earlier in Israel. Dozens of Palestinians blocked her jeep and banged on it with their fists and shouting, “Get out of Gaza!” as she arrived in the tiny territory, which is controlled by the Hamas. Demonstrators later briefly prevented her from leaving a hospital that she had just visited, throwing shoes at the windscreen of her vehicle and blocking its exit before Hamas security forces arrived and cleared the way. It was a rare visit to Gaza by a foreign dignitary, with most government officials preferring to skip the coastal enclave and travel instead to the West Bank, which is controlled by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Alliot-Marie is making her first trip to the region since being appointed foreign minister last year. On Thursday, she met the parents of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by fighters from Hamas and other militant factions in 2006. He is believed to be still alive and held in Gaza, with Hamas denying him contact with the outside world. Alliot-Marie was quoted by some media as calling the detention a “war crime”, a reference condemned by Hamas. “We reject the statement and we urge France to reconsider such a position which does not serve the French role in the region,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Alliot-Marie made no public statement Thursday after meeting with Schalit's parents in Occupied Jerusalem, but the soldier's father, Noam Schalit, 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.” Local Gazans said they were angry that she had not apparently referred to several thousand Palestinians held in Israeli prisons for security-related reasons. Germany has tried for months to broker a deal to secure Shalit's release in return for the liberation of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Speaking later at a French cultural center in Gaza, Alliot-Marie called for the establishment of a Palestinian state and security for Israel. She also called on Israel to fully lift all restrictions on goods and people coming in and going out of Gaza.
