Israel Kills Three Egyptian Soldiers

RAFAH, Egypt, November 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli forces killed three Egyptian security soldiers Thursday, November 19, inside the Egyptian Rafah on the borders with the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli tank fired a shell at three Egyptian security personnel patrolling the border areas on the Egyptian side, allegedly mistaken them for Palestinian "terrorists," reported Haaretz news paper on its website.

Before dawn on Thursday, an Israeli tank stationed along an Israeli-controlled corridor on Gaza's borderlines with Egypt fired off a single shell across the border into the Sinai peninsula, a senior Israeli security source said.

Colonel David Menachem, Israel's acting commander in Gaza, claimed his soldiers had targeted a "group of terrorists" who slipped into an Israeli-controlled corridor on Gaza's borderlines with Egypt under cover of darkness and were laying a mine against Israeli troops.

But he said the Israeli fire had "mistakenly" hit Egyptian security on their side of the border about 200 meters from the suspected militants.

Egypt confirmed the killing and identified the victims as Hani Ali Sobhi, Amer Abu Bakr Amer and Mohamed Abdel Fatah Ali, members of the Interior Ministry’s paramilitary Central Security Forces.

Cabinet’s spokesman Magdi Rady said Egypt was waiting for more information from Israel, but "until now, we see it as a mistake."

An Egyptian police report said the shelling was followed by "indiscriminate firing from Israeli soldiers towards the area where the shell fell."

Two policemen died instantly and the third on his way to hospital, police said.

Apology

Israel has offered apologies to the Egyptian government, launching a thorough investigation into the incident.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon phoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to make an apology, the Egyptian state news agency MENA said.

This followed a formal apology by the Israeli army, which described the incident as a "professional and operational" mishap.

Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim called the incident "regrettable and grave in its outcome."

"The army expressed its regret to the Egyptians and offered any possible help," Israel's military said in a statement.

'We have presented our apologies for this tragic incident to Egyptian officials and we will inform them of the results of the inquiry that we have launched', a source in Sharon’s office told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Israeli army claimed that the area is prone to arms smuggle and infiltration attempts.

"It's in a very delicate part of the border where we've had problems with terrorist infiltrations in the past," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev claimed.

The incident, the deadliest in years involving Israeli and Egyptian forces, could raise tensions between the two former enemies.

An Egyptian official said it was unclear whether the killing of the policemen would upset Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit's plan to visit Israel next Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Abul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suliman are due to visit Tel Aviv Wednesday to discuss the proposed Israeli plan to withdraw from Gaza.

Egypt and Israel have been at peace since a 1979 peace treaty.