At about midnight last night, soldiers of the elite Egoz unit ambushed three Arab terrorists, apparently Fatah members, who were in the process of laying a roadside bomb near the Jewish town of Shavei Shomron in Samaria. Two were killed, while the third escaped back into Palestinian Authority territory. The IDF notified PA officials that the two bodies would be returned in the morning, and that no one must approach the area of the incident - which is under total Israeli control - until then. However, within two hours, three Arabs arrived at the location, at least one of whom was armed. IDF soldiers immediately opened fire and killed them. The local IDF commander later said that it was clear that the second group had come to continue where the first group had left off.



Bomb squad technicians found that the Fatah men had left two bombs; the Israeli forces succeeded in safely neutralizing both of them.