The incident occurred during the night, just before 1 AM, in the Rafiach area of
Gaza, where Egypt borders Israel. Initial reports state that a tank crew
operating there detected three suspicious figures placing a bomb, and the tank
gunner received permission to open fire. Shortly afterwards, an Egyptian
complaint was received that three of their men had been hit.
An IDF investigation is underway. It is assumed that the tank fire overshot the
terrorists and hit the three Egyptians by mistake. IDF forces later found the
bomb placed there by the terrorists, and neutralized it.
This afternoon, an unknown number of terrorists - assumed to be between three and five - were buried alive in an arms-smuggling tunnel in the same area. The tunnel collapsed upon them as they were digging it.
Several Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz and Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim, have issued Israeli apologies to Egypt for last night's mishap. Boim noted that the area is a war zone. He stated as well that Egypt is engaged in foiling arms smuggling activity via tunnels under the Israeli-Egyptian border. In the past, Israeli officials have strongly implied that Egypt was not quite doing its share in stopping the arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.
Later today, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon phoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and expressed his condolences on the accident. Sharon also noted his regrets at the death of Mubarak's brother this week.
Israel now faces a diplomatic brouhaha with Egypt. Former Israeli Ambassador to
Egypt Tzvi Maz'el said that a simple apology regarding "mistaken identity" is
not likely to suffice. "The opposition parties [in Egypt] will begin accusing Israel of all sorts of motivations for 'purposely' killing their men," he said.
On the other hand, some are questioning what exactly the Egyptian policemen were doing there at the time. Gen. (res.) Tzvi Fogel, who formerly commanded the IDF Southern Region, said today, "I'm not at all convinced that those policemen were not helping the Palestinian [terrorists] there."
Gaza, where Egypt borders Israel. Initial reports state that a tank crew
operating there detected three suspicious figures placing a bomb, and the tank
gunner received permission to open fire. Shortly afterwards, an Egyptian
complaint was received that three of their men had been hit.
An IDF investigation is underway. It is assumed that the tank fire overshot the
terrorists and hit the three Egyptians by mistake. IDF forces later found the
bomb placed there by the terrorists, and neutralized it.
This afternoon, an unknown number of terrorists - assumed to be between three and five - were buried alive in an arms-smuggling tunnel in the same area. The tunnel collapsed upon them as they were digging it.
Several Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz and Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim, have issued Israeli apologies to Egypt for last night's mishap. Boim noted that the area is a war zone. He stated as well that Egypt is engaged in foiling arms smuggling activity via tunnels under the Israeli-Egyptian border. In the past, Israeli officials have strongly implied that Egypt was not quite doing its share in stopping the arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.
Later today, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon phoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and expressed his condolences on the accident. Sharon also noted his regrets at the death of Mubarak's brother this week.
Israel now faces a diplomatic brouhaha with Egypt. Former Israeli Ambassador to
Egypt Tzvi Maz'el said that a simple apology regarding "mistaken identity" is
not likely to suffice. "The opposition parties [in Egypt] will begin accusing Israel of all sorts of motivations for 'purposely' killing their men," he said.
On the other hand, some are questioning what exactly the Egyptian policemen were doing there at the time. Gen. (res.) Tzvi Fogel, who formerly commanded the IDF Southern Region, said today, "I'm not at all convinced that those policemen were not helping the Palestinian [terrorists] there."