Netanyahu Vows to 'Fight to Death' Against Palestinian Islamic 'Terror'

Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he’d ordered strict measures aimed to prevent acts of terror and restrain and punish terrorists, pledging a “harsh offensive on Palestinian Islamic terror.”

As soon as Netanyahu came back to Israel from the UN General Assembly in New York, he held a meeting with the heads of the country’s power structures in the wake of the death of four Israelis who had been killed in two separate attacks within just one week.

"We're running an all-out war against Palestinian terrorism," Haartez quoted Netanyahu as saying. "I've instructed further measures to prevent terror and deter and punish the terrorists."

According to media reports, the package of new counter-terrorism measures will include the deployment of additional military forces and police on the Western bank of Jordan River as well as in Eastern Jerusalem, restricting Palestinians from central Jerusalem, including holy sites for Muslims like mosques on the Temple Mount.

"These steps include, among others, speeded up demolition of terrorists' homes," Netanyahu claimed in a video address distributed by his office.

On Thursday, Palestinian militants attacked a car in the West bank, killing an Israeli couple right in front of their children’s eyes. Two days later another instance occurred when a Palestinian armed with a knife attacked a group of Israelis in the Old City of Jerusalem, stabbing two of them to death. Three other persons were injured.

In a response to those offensives, Israeli law enforcement officials launched counter-terror operations on the West bank, shutting down for two days – until the end of traditional Jewish celebration called Sukkot — the Old City of Jerusalem, where both Jewish and Muslim holy sites are situated.