US, Germany and PA denounce ‘revolting’ vehicle ramming that killed 13; Trump revives dubious Muslim execution story after offering condolences
Israeli and world leaders on Thursday condemned the deadly terror attack in Barcelona, expressing outrage and solidarity with the victims.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to the Spanish people in the wake of the Islamic State-claimed vehicular attack that killed 13 and injured over 100 others.
“Israel condemns the terrorist attack in Barcelona. On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I send condolences to families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“Tonight we saw, once again, that terrorism can strike anywhere. The civilized world must fight together in order to defeat it,” the prime minister said.
The Foreign Ministry later released a photo of Netanyahu’s briefing on the events in Barcelona that included a video call with the staff of Israel’s embassy in Spain.
The US, Germany, Russia and the Palestinian Authority also condemned the attack, which a driver deliberately slammed his vehicle into crowds on Barcelona’s most popular street in what police qualified as a “terror attack.”
US President Donald Trump initially tweeted a message of condemnation, offering to do “whatever is necessary to help.”
However, an hour later, Trump revived a widely discredited story about an Army general who supposedly halted Muslim attacks in the Philippines in the early 1900s by shooting the rebels with bullets dipped in pigs’ blood.
“Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!” Trump tweeted.
In a statement from Ramallah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s offered his condolences and underscored the importance of combating terror wherever it exists.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement said her country was thinking of the victims of the “revolting attack” with “profound sadness.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the world to unite in an “uncompromising battle against the forces of terror.”
“We decisively condemn this cruel and cynical crime against civilians,” Putin wrote in a message of condolences to Spanish King Felipe VI.
President Emmanuel Macron voiced “France’s solidarity” with Spanish citizens following what he called “a tragic attack.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May tweeted, “My thoughts are with the victims of today’s terrible attack in Barcelona… and the emergency services responding to this ongoing incident. The UK stands with Spain against terror.”
As reported by The Times of Israel