Netanyahu links Iran, Hamas to border killings
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his Sunday cabinet meeting by condemning the "despicable terrorist" that killed three Israeli police officers at the Jordanian border.
"It's a hard day," Netanyahu said. "We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran's 'Axis of Evil'. In recent days, despicable terrorists have murdered six of our abductees in cold blood and three Israeli police officers."
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"The murderers do not distinguish between us, they want to murder us all, until the last one; right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews."
Referencing a recent report by German newspaper BILD detailing Hamas' reported plan to build pressure on Israel, Netanyahu said the militant group aims "to tear us apart from the inside, and to continue the war until further notice."
"The vast majority of Israeli citizens do not fall into this trap of Hamas," Netanyahu said. "They know that we are committed with all our might to achieve the goals of the war -- to eliminate Hamas, to return all our abductees, to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel and to safely return our residents in the north and south to their homes."
"Some ask: 'Will you forever stand with a sword?' In the Middle East, without a sword there is no eternity," Netanyahu added.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and David Brennan