The few hours following a terrorist shooting and killing three Israelis at the Sunday border crossing between West Bank and Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country is surrounded by murderous ideology managed by "Iran's axis of evil."
"Today is a bad day. A despicable terrorist brutally murdered three of our innocent civilians in the heart of the Allenby Bridge. On behalf of the Government and myself, I extend condolences to the families of those who were brutally murdered," Netanyahu said as he convened a government meeting.
"We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran's axis of evil. In recent days, abhorrent terrorists murdered six of our hostages and three Israel Police officers in cold blood. The murderers do not differentiate between us. They want to murder us all, right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews, until the last one," he added.
According to the Israeli defence authorities, a terrorist in a truck came close to the area of Allenby Bridge from Jordan, alighted from the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.
"The terrorist was neutralized by the security forces; three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead due to the attack. IDF soldiers were sent out to the scene and are now working to rule out suspicion of the truck being rigged with explosives; further details to follow," the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X.
Netanyahu, while hailing the efforts of security agencies and their heroism, said it is the strength of the State of Israel-the power of the IDF-which, unlike in the past, is preventing further destruction even as massive efforts are underway to divide and sow discord among the people of the country.
"Last weekend, the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that revealed its action plan: to sow discord among us, to use psychological warfare on the hostages' families, to apply internal and external political pressure on the Government of Israel, to tear us apart from within, and to continue the war until further notice, until Israel is defeated," commented the Israeli PM.
"The great majority of the citizens of Israel are not falling into this Hamas trap. They well know that we are fully committed to attaining the goals of the war: to eradicate Hamas, to return all of our hostages, to ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, and to return our residents in the north and south securely to their homes," he said in a follow-up statement.
Read also| Russia Issues Warning to US: Don’t Cross 'Red Lines' on Ukraine Issue
Read also| Iran Rejects Western Allegations of Involvement in Ukraine Crisis
