Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, condemned the deadly shooting at the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan hours earlier.
“This is a difficult day. An abhorrent terrorist murdered three of our citizens in cold blood at the Allenby Bridge. On behalf of the government and myself, I send condolences to the families of those who were murdered,” the premier said.
Three security guards at the crossing in the Jordan Valley were killed in the shooting. The gunman, who according to the IDF was a Jordanian citizen, was killed, and Israeli forces were conducting scans of the area to ensure there were no more terrorists in the area.
“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,” Netanyahu continued, referring to the recent murder of six hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza and three police officers in a drive-by shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint in Judea.
“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.
“What prevents the destruction of our people, as in previous times, is the strength of the State of Israel and the power of the IDF: Our soldiers’ spirit of heroism, the police officers, the men and women of our security forces, the supreme sacrifice of our fallen heroes and the stamina of our people—these make all the difference.
“When we stand together, our enemies cannot overcome us; therefore, their main objective is to divide us and to sow discord among us,” the prime minister said.”
Netanyahu then touched on confidential documents obtained from the computer of a senior Hamas leader that unveiled the terrorist group’s calculated strategy to exploit hostages, manipulate public opinion and rebuild its “military” capabilities under the guise of ceasefire negotiations.
The revelations, first reported by Berlin-based Bild daily, provide insight into Hamas’s tactics and disregard for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
“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 part from within, and to continue the war until further notice, until Israel is defeated,” Netanyahu said.
“The great majority of Israel’s citizens are not falling into this Hamas trap. They know that we are fully committed to achieving the objectives of the war: To eliminate 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.
“We will stand together. We will wield the sword of David together and with God’s help, we will win.
“One more word. There are those who ask: ‘Shall the sword devour forever?’ [II Samuel 2:26]. In the Middle East, without the sword, there is no ‘forever,'” the prime minister said.
