SEDEROT: An Indian Muslim leaders' delegation, on a rare visit to Israel, on Tuesday had to scramble behind the mountains to take shelter to escape from Hamas rocket attack from Gaza Strip.
Sirens warning an impending rocket attack went off when the Indian delegation during its visit to the southern Israeli city of Sederot.
"We heard a warning shot which was followed by a siren. We were immediately rushed to take shelter behind the mountains where we heard the sound of another rocket attack which hit the city," Maulana Umair Ilyasi, leader of the delegation, told after the attack which took place on Monday.
The delegation is visiting Israel on the invitation of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Australian Israel Jewish Affairs Council, (AIJAFC).
The AJC and the AIJAC had arranged a trip for the visiting Indian delegation to the southern city of Sederot, which is just 800 metres away from Gaza border.
"We were just watching the Gaza Strip from the top of a mountain when the rockets were fired from the Hamas controlled territory," Ilyasi, General Secretary of the All India Organisation of Imams of Mosques, said.
"There were two rockets which hit the city today," an official said. On an average three rockets are fired from Gaza every day, he said.
Later, in an operation the Israeli forces killed six Hamas activist, the local news channels reported.
The delegation visited the immigration 'absorbtion centre' in the city and interacted with the young immigrants residing there.
Ilyasi, is accompanied by Maulana Qari Hifurrehman, Khwaja Peer Afzal Nizami and Khwaja Iftikhar Ahmed.
Earlier, at a joint press conference in Jerusalem, the Indian Muslim leaders and chief Ashkenazi and Shephardi Rabbis, Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar, pledged to continue with efforts to further Muslim-Jewish dialogue to facilitate the peace process in west Asia.
The delegation, which left Isreal on Tuesday for India, also met with President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tipzi Livni, Jewish religious leaders and visited various religious sites in Israel.
Ilyasi said that they would continue to strive for harmonious Jewish-Muslim relations. The Indian delegation's Israel visit follows a trip to India earlier this year by Jewish rabbis for an inter-faith meeting.
