Israel investigates raid deaths

Israeli soldiers at the funeral of raid victim Liron Charvit

The Israeli army has begun an investigation into the deaths of three of its soldiers during a raid in the West Bank, after admitting that they may have been killed by their own side.

The soldiers were shot dead as Israeli troops searched a West Bank village for Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a member of Hamas. Mr Hanoud escaped, but later surrendered to Palestinian police.

An Arab member of the Israeli parliament, Ahmed Tibi, has said the failure of the operation was a blessing for Israelis - the capture or death of Mr Hanoud would have sparked a string of revenge attacks.

The Israeli army's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, said a very grave mistake had been made by Israeli troops and all circumstances of the military operation would be investigated.

He said: "It is possible that lower-level officers made erroneous decisions about the place, the people, the firing."

Israeli soldiers were also injured in the raid

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said mis-communication among the troops could have been to blame.

The raid on Assira al-Shamaliyeh began late on Saturday. Hundreds of soldiers sealed off the village, imposed a curfew and carried out house-to-house searches.

At one point during the operation, Mr Hanoud and another man fired at the troops, according to army commander General Yitzhak Eitan.

A second Hamas suspect was wounded and detained by the Israelis in the village.

Mr Hanoud was treated for gunshot wounds at the Evangelical Hospital in Nablus and was placed under heavy guard.

Warning

Mr Tibi, a prominent Israeli-Arab, warned that the death, or even arrest of Mr Hanoud would have provoked the kind of bloody revenge that has brought the peace process to a halt in the past.

The mother of Hanoud wails her protest

"The Israeli public should be thankful. If he had been killed, there would have been a string of attacks," Mr Tibi said.

In 1996, the killing by Israeli security forces of Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayash, sparked a succession of revenge suicide bombings.

The incident comes ahead of President Bill Clinton's scheduled visit to Cairo on Tuesday, to seek progress in the regional peace talks.

Bomb defused

Early on Monday, Israeli police said they had defused a pipe-bomb near a busy intersection in Jerusalem.

They said the bomb had been left in a backpack, and had it gone off, would almost certainly have caused casualties during the rush hour.

The Jerusalem police chief, Yair Yitzaki, said his men had prevented a catastrophe.