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Israel to Continue Fighting Terrorism: Barak
Israel will continue to fight all kinds of terrorist activities despite the heavy prices it has to pay, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said here on Sunday.
In his condolences to the families of the three soldiers of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) killed overnight in clashes with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the West Bank, Barak said the loss of life of the IDF soldiers could not prevent Israel from fighting terrorists.
Shaul Mofaz, chief of general staff of the IDF, appointed on Sunday a committee to investigate the incident.
Mofaz was quoted by the Israel Radio as saying that he did not rule out the possibility that the three IDF soldiers "were killed by friendly fire."
The IDF spokesman's office said earlier that the three IDF soldiers were killed in the clash with "Palestinian terrorists" near Nablus during Saturday night and a fourth one was injured, apparently by "friendly fire."
The IDF soldiers from an elite unit operating in the Nablus region were ordered to "manhunt Palestinian terrorists" and the most wanted Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) terrorist Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, who was accused of being behind two anti-Israeli suicide bombings in Jerusalem in 1997.
He is considered a leader of Hamas' military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, which has carried out a serious of suicide bombings.
A heavy exchange of fire erupted around midnight in the village of Atzria Shimaliya, north of Nablus, and later on IDF troops, accompanied by four helicopters which circled overhead, surrounded the village.
The IDF early Sunday morning blew up a house, where the clash with "Palestinian terrorists" took place, the office said.
The Palestinian authorities were kept informed about the manhunts and other IDF activities in the area and the Israeli side has to look into the events and investigate the incident, Mofaz said.
The village is in Area B, which is under Palestinian civilian jurisdiction but under Israeli security control.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Sunday also ordered the Palestinian security to investigate the event.
Israeli Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami on Sunday termed the event a very serious one, but he did not ask the Palestinian side to extradite Abu Hanoud for trial.
Abu Hanoud has turned himself in to the Palestinian security earlier Sunday at a hospital in Nablus, where he was reportedly treated for three gun shots on his shoulder.
The IDF had recently carried out several manhunts of the "Palestinian terrorists" in the West Bank.
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