(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a “global response” to the attack at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris.
Netanyahu issued his statement Thursday during a meeting in Jerusalem with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende.
“These extremists are part of a global movement, and this necessitates a global response,” Netanyahu said of the slaying a day earlier of 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo offices, which witnesses said was carried out by at least three men who said they were supporters of al-Qaida and had come to avenge perceived insults to Islam in items published by the weekly.
“Yesterday’s murderous attack on free expression clearly demonstrates the disdain of radical Islam for the values we hold dear. We cherish freedom and tolerance; they worship tyranny and terror,” he said.
On Wednesday, an 18-year-old man surrendered to police after learning that he was a target in the manhunt for the assailants, who fled the scene. Relatives of the man, Hamyd Mourad, said he was not in Paris during the attacks, the French news agency AFP reported.
French police sources said they believed the two other assailants were Cherif and Said Kouachi, brothers from Paris in their 30s. Cherif Kouachi has been under police surveillance in connection with his suspected ties to an Islamist group called Chaumont Targets that is believed to have recruited fighters for jihadist groups in Iraq.
Police are looking into reports that the two were last seen in Aisne, north of Paris, Le Parisien reported Thursday. At least seven people were taken into custody following the Charlie Hebdo murders, the daily also reported.
On Thursday, a French police officer was killed in a shootout in Montrouge, south of Paris, Le Monde reported. An unidentified, heavily armed man shot her at close range and fled.
The slain officer and another officer were shot at upon arriving at the scene of a vehicular accident. Some witnesses said there were two gunmen, but others said they only saw one person firing.
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