Last update - 00:00 06/12/2007
Undercover IDF unit accidentally kills PA policeman in Bethlehem
By Yuval Azoulay and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents
An undercover Border Police unit accidentally killed a Palestinian police officer during an arrest raid in Bethlehem Wednesday.
Mohammed Salah, 36, was killed after Border Police officers refused to stop at a Palestinian security forces roadblock near Al-Hadar, south of Bethlehem.
The Palestinians began following the Israeli officers' vehicle, when the Border Police officers opened fire.
Salah was taken to the hospital in Beit Jalla, where he died of his injuries.
A second Palestinian officer was injured lightly in the incident.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman said that West Bank Division Commander Brigadier General Noam Tivon and the Head of the District Coordination Office, Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai offered to help evacuate and treat the wounded men. They said the operation had not targeted Palestinian police officers.
After the incident, Mordechai spoke with the commander of the Palestinian forces in the Bethlehem area. The two agreed to maintain quiet in the area. The incident is being investigated by the IDF.
More Israeli troops were summoned to the area in order to extract the Border Police officers after residents began throwing rocks at them.
The commander of the IDF's Etzion Division, Brig.-Gen. Nir Solomon, met with Palestinian officers last night at the coordination headquarters. The officers decided to establish a joint team to investigate the circumstances of the incident. IDF officials said the meeting was friendly and that the tension created by the incident had dissipated.
The IDF emphasized, however, that it will continue to operate in the area, in accordance with operational needs.
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