GENEVA, Dec 15 (AFP) - Israel on Wednesday apologised to Switzerland for an incident in May last year, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Swiss diplomats' car at a Gaza Strip checkpoint.
The Israeli government also promised to reimburse the costs incurred due to the incident and to punish the officer and the soldier responsible, the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.
The apology was presented by the head of the political and military office of Israel's defence ministry, Amos Gilad, at a meeting in Bern with Urs Ziswiler, the head of the political office at the foreign ministry.
In the statement the foreign ministry said it was satisfied with the apology and considered the matter closed.
The Swiss envoy to the Palestinian Authority, Jean-Jacques Joris, was travelling with his deputy in an armoured diplomatic car on May 26, 2003, when they were stopped by soldiers at the Erez checkpoint who then opened fire.
Neither diplomat was injured, but the incident created tensions between the two countries.
During a visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in August, his Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey rejected as "unsatisfactory" the official Israeli version of events.
12/15/2004 18:26 GMT - AFP