Israel apologizes after tank kills 3 Egyptian police
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-18 20:10

An Israeli tank killed three Egyptian policemen on the Gaza-Egypt border Thursday, prompting an Israeli apology for what the army said was a tragic error when it mistook them for Palestinian militants.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to express regret over the incident, which could derail the Egyptian foreign minister's first visit to the Jewish state next week to discuss a planned Israeli pullout from Gaza.

Sharon promised a full investigation and to share findings with the Egyptians. Israeli military officials said soldiers had mistaken the Egyptian policemen for Palestinian militants and thought they were planting explosives against Israeli forces.

"From the bottom of our hearts, we are sorry," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters.

The Israeli army took the rare step of putting an Arabic-speaking spokesman on the Arabic satellite news channel Al Jazeera to issue an apology.

The incident, the deadliest in years involving Israeli and Egyptian forces, could raise tensions between the two former enemies at a time when the Jewish state wants Egypt to help secure Gaza after a planned Israeli withdrawal there next year.

Before dawn Thursday, a tank stationed along a volatile Israeli-controlled "Philadelphi" corridor on Gaza's boundary 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, said soldiers had targeted "terrorists" who had slipped into the narrow corridor under cover of darkness and were laying a mine.

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

"This area is a central point for arms smuggling, attacks and many infiltration attempts," the army said in a statement that also expressed regret for the incident.

SCENE OF FREQUENT FIGHTING

The area near the Palestinian town of Rafah, a militant stronghold, has been the scene of frequent Israeli-Palestinian fighting during the past four years of conflict.

Militants spearheading a four-year-old uprising have used a network of secret tunnels to bring in arms from Egypt.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said Egyptian security forces had recently stepped up efforts to prevent arms smuggling on their side of the border.

"So, of course, it just makes matters worse and we must find ways to ensure it won't happen again," he told Israel Radio.

The Egyptian government had no immediate comment. An Egyptian official said it was unclear whether the killing of the policemen would upset Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit's plan to visit Israel next Wednesday to discuss the Gaza pullout.

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab states to have a peace treaty with Israel, which captured the Sinai during the 1967 Middle East war and returned it to Egypt under a 1979 peace treaty.

Relations between the two countries have been chilly since the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising in September 2000, with Egypt accusing Israel of heavy-handed military tactics in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Israel shortly after the revolt began.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
Personnel, railway ministries misuse funds         Mystery illness outbreak in HK identified         Global forum highlights food safety         Housing prices surge in first 10 months         Arafat's diagnosis may soon be revealed         Warner sues karaoke hall for infringement	Chirac, Blair strive for unity after Iraq       Arafat's diagnosis may soon be revealed       Clinton unveils his 'gift to the future'       Kerry to give dems leftover campaign cash       Afghan opium cultivation reaches record high - UN       Palestinians to host western diplomats