The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Monday after a pair of Arab gunmen killed two Israeli police officers and wounded four others in central Israel before they were killed by police, authorities said, ABC News reports.
Israeli leaders condemned the killings and pointed to the timing. Sunday's attack came on the eve of a special meeting between the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in the Israeli Negev. It was the second deadly attack carried out by Arab assailants in an Israeli city in less than a week. Both attacks came ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“This was murder for the sake of murder and terror for the sake of terror,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, flanked by the minsters from the U.S., Baharain, Morocco, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
“The terrorist goal is to intimidate us," Lapid added. “We will not let them."
“Our presence here today is, I think, the best response to such attacks,” said Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.
On Tuesday, a lone attacker inspired by the Islamic State group killed four people in a stabbing rampage in southern Israel before he was killed by passersby, police said.
The Islamic State group in a posting on its Aamaq news agency claims responsibility for the attack, saying two IS members killed two Israeli security forces.
“The heart breaks” over the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said Monday. The Israeli premier issued the statement from home, after testing positive for the coronavirus. He urged people to be vigilant. Police were expected to set up checkpoints on major roads Tuesday.