IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz appears to be preparing for an apology for the operation in which five PA policemen were killed two nights ago. \"We did not intend such a result,\" he told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday. \"If there was a mistake, we will not hesitate to admit it.\" Ma\'ariv reports that the original plan was to attack a Force-17 position from where many attacks on Israeli cars had originated over the past months; the cell is responsible for a series of attacks in which eight Israelis were killed. However, the terrorists were replaced by a new contingent of PA para-military policemen a few days ago, and the information was not brought to the attention of the forces in the field.
Anonymous military sources were quoted in Ma\'ariv to the effect that even the original plan was not justified, in that the targets were not necessarily those who committed the attacks. Others, however, such as Col. (res.) Ben Ben-Eli, said that during these times of war, any enemy soldier with a gun is a legitimate target.
Anonymous military sources were quoted in Ma\'ariv to the effect that even the original plan was not justified, in that the targets were not necessarily those who committed the attacks. Others, however, such as Col. (res.) Ben Ben-Eli, said that during these times of war, any enemy soldier with a gun is a legitimate target.