When Joseph Zammit told his daughter five years ago she should consider a visit to Gaza, he never expected her to actually take the plunge, much less to end up being shot in the leg a year into her stay. But he always knew that his 28-year-old daughter, Bianca, had a passion for helping people and standing up for human rights, so he was fully supportive of her decision to go there to teach English and help fight the Palestinian cause.

"Forgiveness is very important," Dr Zammit, 67, said yesterday, when contacted about the incident on Saturday during which his daughter was shot in the leg during a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration.

The former teacher and lawyer said his daughter, who is recovering well, forgave her assailants instantly. But a detailed explanation about the incident was still expected and so was an investigation to ensure such actions were not repeated.

His initial reaction to the incident was that he wanted his daughter to come back home but, after the dust settled, he became even more proud of what she was doing.

"She wants to stay another three months because she has important projects to finish off and, until then, no one can replace her," he said, adding that she was always more than welcome back home.

Her sister, Marcella Muscat, said that while the family was shocked by the incident, they knew she was living in a warzone, so they had prepared themselves for such dangers.

"Obviously, we don't want her to get killed. But if everyone sits down and stays quiet, nothing will ever change," she said, proud of her sister.

They are convinced that she is being well looked after, especially after the story hit the local media and encouraged diplomats to look into the issue.

Meanwhile, the International Solidarity Movement, the NGO with which Ms Zammit was protesting, has uploaded a video of the incident. The clip captures the moment she was shot.

The video, mostly shot by Ms Zammit herself, shows a group of Palestinian men and women holding Palestinian flags and symbols, chanting songs of protest in some open fields. All of a sudden, shots are fired and the protestors scramble to help a man who was hit. Ms Zammit films them lifting him up and running with him for medical help. But before they are out of sight, shots are fired again, this time, hitting her in the leg.

Seemingly in disbelief, she lets out a subdued cry of pain.

In the subsequent shots she is seen being driven to hospital, putting on a brave face and saying that the only thing the protestors were doing was lifting "Palestinian flags in Palestinian land".

Luckily, the bullet went right through her leg, so she is recovered quickly, her father said.

The Maltese government yesterday protested to the Israeli government, saying it deplored and condemned the "totally unwarranted attack".

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Malta expected "a thorough investigation" to be carried out into the incident, which could have had far more serious consequences.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg is expected to raise the incident today during an EU Foreign Ministers' meeting.

Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat, Moviment Graffitti, Alternattiva Demokratika were among those who conveyed solidarity with Ms Zammit.

On a blog, one of Ms Zammit's fellow supporters, Max Ajl, said the sniper who shot her intended to "cripple" and "scare" her so she would not go to subsequent demonstrations.

"Doubt that's going to work... Bianca is usually 10 metres in front of me at every demonstration we go to," Mr Ajl said, promising that Ms Zammit would be at the next demonstration.

Mr Ajl noted that Ms Zammit was only one of three people who were shot, including an 18-year-old Palestinian boy.

Ms Zammit's brother, Aldo Zammit Borda, said she was well aware that both sides of the conflict had legitimate fears and concerns and, as a peaceful activist, simply sought to highlight the concerns with a video-camera as her only weapon.

"While it is true that the Middle Eastern problem may not be directly related to Maltese problems, the principles of forgiveness, peace, justice and reconciliation, which underlie them, are universal. It is these principles that drove Bianca to peaceful action in the first place," he said.