WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In Israel, a pre-dawn raid on a house by anti-terror commandos in an Arab town north of Tel Aviv erupted in gunfire and an explosion. Three alleged members of the militant Palestinian group Hamas were killed. CNN Jerusalem bureau chief Walter Rodgers reports.</s>WALTER RODGERS, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): As an Israeli armored bulldozer clawed away at a house where suspected Hamas militants were holed up in the city of Taibe, police and anti- terrorist units poured thousands of rounds of rifle fire into an apartment that had been rented in the Israeli Arab city by Palestinians from Gaza. Israeli security officials told CNN the Palestinians in the house were from the Islamic militant group Hamas. They said they were planning a coordinated attack on major Israeli cities by four or five suicide bombers. Israel's deputy defense minister says Iran was behind the planned suicide bombings.</s>EPHRAIM SNEH, ISRAELI DEP. DEFENSE MINISTER: Hamas is one of four terror organizations that Iran are urging to act to derail the peace process by deadly terrorist attacks.</s>RODGERS: An official from Hamas denied specific knowledge of this incident but justified attacks on what he called "the Israeli occupation."</s>ISMAIL ABU SHANAB, HAMAS SPOKESMAN: It is the dynamic of our Palestinian people to continue the struggle under all conditions.</s>RODGERS: Israeli anti-terrorist units began surrounding the suspected Hamas hideaway early in the morning, the Israelis initiating this action in a siege that lasted all day. There are indications Israel received help from Palestinian security officials in this, and one Israeli, who did not want to be named, said, "Generally, the Palestinians are doing a good job cooperating in anti-terrorist activities." Walter Rodgers, CNN, Jerusalem.
Pre-Dawn Raid by Anti-Terrorist Forces in Israel Erupts in Gunfire