An Israeli border patrol along the Gaza Strip frontier fired at a patrol of the United Nations Emergency Force last Friday night, according to a report from UNEF head quarters issued by the UN here today.
The report stated that the UNEF patrol did not return the Israeli fire, and that none of the UNEF men was hurt. According to the UNEF statement, the leader of the Israel patrol expressed regret over the incident, saying that his men had opened fire by mistake. Observers here expressed the opinion that the Israelis had mistaken the UNEF patrol for a band of Arab infiltrators, since there have been a number of Arab crossings into Israel in recent weeks.
UNEF announced that it has lodged a protest over the incident with Israeli authorities, asking that steps be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
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