JERUSALEM – Israel's Defense Minister says Israel deeply regrets the deaths of Egyptian troops killed during a shootout between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants.
Ehud Barak says he has ordered a military investigation and a joint inquiry with the Egyptian army to clarify the circumstances of Friday's incident, when militants from Gaza crossed into southern Israel through the Egyptian desert and launched a deadly attack that killed eight Israeli.
At least three Egyptian troops were killed in a subsequent shootout between Israeli soldiers pursuing the militants along the Israeli-Egypt border. Egypt said Saturday it would recall its ambassador from Israel to protest the deaths.
Barak says that "Israel deeply regrets the deaths of the Egyptian officers."
