‘’Attacks against civilians are unacceptable and must stop. We stand with Israel at this difficult time,” said Josep Borrell, EU’s foreign affairs chief.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel is facing “a new wave of Arab terrorism” and promised that Israel would beat it back as it has done to previous waves of terror in the past.
In an effort to prevent further attacks, the IDF will concentrate on intelligence gathering. In parallel, both the IDF and the Israel Police will be deploying larger numbers across the country.
‘’The European Union strongly condemns the terror attack, which took place this evening in the outskirts of Tel Aviv, killing at least 5 civilians,’’ said EU foreign affairs Josep Borrell in a statement.
He added: ‘’This is third such incident in one week, when civilians were attacked and killed. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims while our thoughts are with those injured.’’
He said that ‘’attacks against civilians are unacceptable and must stop. We stand with Israel at this difficult time.’’
‘’The EU remains firmly committed to the prevention and fight against terrorism and violent extremism,’’ Borrell said.
Five people were shot and killed Tuesday night in Bnei Brak, just outside Tel Aviv. Two of the victims were residents of the city, one was an Israeli-Arab police officer, and two others were Ukrainian citizens.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel is facing “a new wave of Arab terrorism” and promised that Israel would beat it back as it has done to previous waves of terror in the past.
All coalition partners condemned the attack including the leader of the United Arab List Party, Mansour Abbas, who called it a “foul attack against innocent people”.
Israeli Defence Minister Gantz said: “We have been through difficult periods, as a people and a country, in the face of waves of terrorism and we have always prevailed with resoluteness and strength, and that will be the cast this time too. The entire security establishment the IDF, the Shin Bet and the police,will act with all means to restore security to the streets of Israel and the sense of security to the citizens.”
This was the tenth terror attack this month, the third attack in the last eight days, following the attacks in the cities of Beer Sheva and Hadera, where in total 11 people have been killed.
There is a sense that even if each attack has no direct connection, it serves to inspire the next perpetrator.
The rise in tension was anticipated ahead of Ramadan that starts next week. This year the timing coincides with both Passover and Easter, adding to the focus on Jerusalem’s Old City, which will see an influx of worshippers from all three religions.
Israel had been planning to take a range of measures to ease restrictions and allow for freedom of prayer in Jerusalem, including for West Bank Palestinians. The security cabinet will weigh the benefits of this, against the possibility of terrorists taking advantage of the situation.
According to Defence Minister Gantz, Israel had also approved “additional civilian measures that will benefit Palestinians.” Earlier this week Israel increased the number of permits for Gazans to work in Israel by an additional 8,000, to a total of 20,000.
In a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday, Gantz emphasized the importance of maintaining regional peace and stability, specifically to act forcefully against ISIS. The two attacks in Beer Sheva and Hadera have been committed by Israeli Arabs who had identified with ISIS. Last night’s terrorist was a 27-year-old Palestinian from Yaabad, near Jenin, who entered Israel illegally. He opened fire indiscriminately. He murdered two people who were sitting nearby at a local grocery store, stopped a passing car and shot the driver at point-blank range and continued to fire. In the past he had served time in prison in Israel, where he joined Fatah. It is not yet clear if he had carried out his attack in the name of any particular organisation.
In an effort to prevent further attacks, the IDF will concentrate on intelligence gathering. In parallel, both the IDF and the Israel Police will be deploying larger numbers across the country.