The knife used in one of the stabbing attacks carried out this week in Israel. Photo: American Friends of Magen David Adom.

In the wake of the recent wave of stabbings targeting Israelis, Fatah and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) officials continue to openly justify and encourage more terrorist attacks against Jews.

When asked whether the murderers of Eitan and Naama Henkin – killed in front of their four young children last week – were carried out by Hamas or Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a PLO Executive Committee member dismissed the importance of the distinction – because killing Israelis is a “national duty.”

“There is no need to return to the argument and dispute about who carried out the operation… There is no need to announce it and boast of having done it. One fulfills his national duty voluntarily, as best as one can,” said senior PLO official Mahmoud Ismail on Official PA TV on Monday, in remarks translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

Palestinian social media users celebrated the terrorist attack, sharing pictures of the murdered couple as “expressions of joy,” and referring to the killing as a “heroic” act, according to a PMW translation of the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

A senior Fatah official also justified killing “settlers” as “legal” acts.

“The settlers’ presence is illegal, and therefore every measure taken against them is legitimate and legal,” Fatah Central Committee Member Jamal Muhasien said in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Wednesday.

The dramatic upsurge in terrorist attacks in recent days struck Tel Aviv on Thursday, after a Palestinian terrorist wielding a screwdriver stabbed a female soldier and wounded four civilians before he was shot and killed by a nearby Israeli Air Force officer. This was already the eighth such terrorist attack targeting Israelis since Wednesday.

Earlier on Thursday, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed and severely wounded an Israeli man in Jerusalem. Shortly after, Israeli security forces arrested the attacker. This incident marks the fourth stabbing attack in the capital since October 1.

Also Thursday, a Palestinian stabbed and seriously injured an Israeli man in Kiryat Arba, successfully fleeing the scene.

Last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to condemn the Palestinian leadership’s glorification of terrorists.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has yet to publicly condemn any of the attacks that have taken place in recent weeks, while senior officials in his party continue to openly encourage further attacks.

Steven Emerson is the Executive Director the Investigative Project on Terrorism (www.investigativeproject.org) where this article first appeared.