DILI, East Timor (AP) — Pope Francis arrived in East Timor on Monday to encourage its recovery from a bloody and traumatic past and celebrate its development after two decades of independence from Indonesian rule.

Francis arrived in Dili from Papua New Guinea to open the third leg of his trip through Southeast Asia and Oceania. He’ll meet with Timorese leaders and diplomats later Monday.

The overwhelmingly Catholic East Timor, one of the world’s poorest countries, eagerly awaited Francis’ arrival, which came on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the U.N.-backed referendum that paved the way for independence from Indonesia.

“Our great hope is that he may come to consolidate the fraternity, the national unity, peace and development for this new country,” said Estevão Tei Fernandes, a university professor.

It was a far different atmosphere than when the last pope visited. St. John Paul II came in 1989, when Timor was still an occupied part of Indonesia and fighting for its freedom. As many as 200,000 people were killed during the 24 years of Indonesian rule.

Francis will confront that legacy, and another one more close to home involving Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the Timorese bishop who, along with the Catholic Church as a whole, is regarded as a hero for his efforts to win independence.

Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with fellow East Timorese independence icon José Ramos-Horta, today the country’s president, for campaigning for a fair and peaceful solution to the conflict.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, in its citation, praised Belo’s courage in refusing to be intimidated by Indonesian forces. The committee noted that while trying to get the United Nations to arrange a plebiscite for East Timor, he smuggled out two witnesses to a bloody 1991 massacre so they could testify to the U.N. human rights commission in Geneva.

In 2022, the Vatican acknowledged that it had secretly sanctioned Belo in 2020 for sexually abusing young boys. The sanctions included limitations on his movements and exercise of ministry and prohibited him from having voluntary contact with minors or contact with East Timor itself. The sanctions were reinforced in 2021.

Despite the sanctions, which were confirmed at the time by the Vatican spokesman and reaffirmed last week ahead of Francis’ trip, many people in East Timor have stood by Belo, either dismissing, denying or diminishing the victims’ claims. Some even hoped Belo, who lives in Portugal, would be on hand to welcome Francis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted what he called Iran’s “axis of evil” in remarks Sunday after a terrorist attack at the West Bank-Jordan border crossing killed three Israelis. 

“It’s a hard day. A despicable terrorist murdered three of our citizens in cold blood at the Allenby Bridge. On behalf of the government, I send my condolences to the families of the victims,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of his cabinet meeting Sunday. “We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil. In recent days, despicable terrorists have murdered six of our hostages in cold blood and three Israeli police officers. The killers 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.” 

The Israeli military said a gunman approached the Allenby Bridge Crossing from the Jordanian side in a truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces, who killed the assailant in a shootout. It said the three people killed were Israeli civilians. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said they were all men in their 50s.

Jordan, a Western-allied Arab country with a large Palestinian population, is investigating the shooting, its state-run Petra News Agency reported.

TRUMP CLAIMS ISRAEL WILL BE ‘GONE’ WITHIN TWO YEARS IF HARRIS IS ELECTED PRESIDENT: VIDEO

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri celebrated the attack, connecting the shooting to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. 

“We expect many more similar actions,” he said, according to Reuters. 

It marked the first attack of its kind along the West Bank-Jordan border crossing since Hamas terrorists killed approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. Another 250 were taken as hostages into Gaza, and Hamas are still holding approximately 100 of them. Around a third of the remaining hostages inside Gaza are believed to be dead.

“What prevents the elimination of our people as in the past is the strength of the State of Israel and the strength of the Israel Defense Forces,” Netanyahu continued Sunday. “The heroic spirit of the soldiers, the policemen, the men and women of our security forces, the supreme sacrifice of our fallen heroes and the resilience of our people – that’s all the difference. When we stand together – our enemies cannot, so their main goal is to divide us, to sow division within us.”

Over the weekend, Netanyahu noted, “the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that reveals its plan of action: to sow division within us, to wage psychological warfare on the families of the hostages, to exert internal and external political pressure on the Israeli government, to tear us apart from the inside, and to continue the war until further notice, until the defeat of Israel.”

Israeli police stand guard near the site of a deadly shooting attack where Israeli officials say three people were shot and killed at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

“The vast majority of Israeli citizens do not fall into this trap of Hamas,” the prime minister 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 hostages, 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.”

NETANYAHU SAYS SECURITY IN GAZA IS CRITICAL TO STOP HAMAS SMUGGLING HOSTAGES INTO IRAN: ‘LOST FOREVER’

“We will stand together, we will hold on to David’s link together, and with God’s help we will win,” Netanyahu said. “And lastly, some ask – ‘Will you forever hold a sword?’ In the Middle East, without a sword there is no eternity.”

The Allenby crossing over the Jordan River, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is mainly used by Palestinians and international tourists, as well as for cargo shipments. The crossing has seen very few security incidents over the years, but in 2014 Israeli security guards shot and killed a Jordanian judge who they said had attacked them, the Associated Press reported. 

Israeli soldiers stand guard near the site of a deadly shooting attack where Israeli officials say three people were shot and killed at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024.  (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994. 

Authorities in Israel and Jordan said the crossing was closed until further notice, and Israel later announced the closure of both of its land crossings with Jordan, near Beit Shean in the north and Eilat in the south.

Fox News’ Yael Rotem-Kuriel and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Romania has confirmed drone fragments on several occasions since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Latvia and Romania, NATO members who are allies of Ukraine, have said that Russian drones violated their airspace.

Romania said a Russian drone entered its airspace during nighttime attacks across the Danube River in neighbouring Ukraine in the early hours of Sunday, while Latvia said one crashed in the eastern part of the country a day earlier.

Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said that Bucharest deployed F-16 fighter jets to monitor its airspace and that a search for the weapon’s debris was under way at a potential crash site near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Bucharest strongly condemned the “renewed violation” brought on by Moscow’s “illegal attacks”.

Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics, meanwhile, said a Russian military drone had crashed in the eastern part of its territory.

The Defence Ministry said that the drone had flown into the country’s airspace from Belarus and crashed around Rezekne, a town of about 25,000 people some 55km (34 miles) west of Russia and 75km (47 miles) from Belarus, a close ally of the Kremlin.

While the incursion into Latvian airspace appeared to be a rare incident, Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Romania shares a 650km (400 mile) border with Ukraine.

Mircea Geoana, NATO’s outgoing deputy secretary-general and Romania’s former top diplomat, said the military alliance condemned Russia’s violation of Romanian airspace. “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against Allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

Russia has carried out repeated nighttime attacks on cities across Ukraine, frequently targeting its Danube River ports, which are just a few hundred metres from Romania.

Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha condemned the breaches of Romanian and Latvian airspace, calling them “a stark reminder that Russia’s aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine”.

He added on X that Ukraine needed concrete action from its allies.

“A brave collective decision to use partner air defence to intercept Russian missiles and drones over Ukraine. Stronger and faster military aid for Ukrainian warriors. Lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of weapons. Act now,” he said.

Poland has also recorded at least two cases of its airspace being violated by Russian missiles or drones attacking Ukraine, most recently in December.

Romanian lawmakers plan to consider legislation at their current session on enabling Romania to shoot down drones invading the country’s airspace in peacetime.