Three Bedouin caused panic in Be'er Sheva on Tuesday evening when they walked around the city's central bus station waving long weapons.

Police officers who were nearby identified the three suspects, and an investigation revealed that they were carrying toy rifles.

The police said that "the young people, who realized that their conduct had caused a public panic, broke the toys, and they were thrown in the trash."

The police added that "we appeal to the public to immediately report to the 100 hotline any threat of bullying or violence, and to assist in the determined fight against crime for the sake of public safety and quality of life."

Lt. Gen. Nachshon Nagler, commander of the Negev region of the Israel Police, said on Monday that "Be'er Sheva is not yet Switzerland, but the situation is not considered a catastrophe. The Negev is a safe place."

"The police in the south have moved from being on the defensive to being on the offensive in order to deal with violence and create a safe environment. We have the tools to do so," Nagler said in an interview with the Ynet news website.

He added that "we have more challenges, there is more to deal with, I am not saying that everything is good but we are on the right track, when I said we went from the defensive to the offensive, I meant that we are chasing the criminals and we arrive at their homes so that they feel insecure and not residents, and in order for the criminals and criminal elements deal with the police and not with the normative residents. By doing so, we transfer the initiative into the hands of the police and create a situation in which the criminal elements and the criminals are the ones who feel persecuted."

"There is no place that police officers are afraid to enter. We enter all the Bedouin localities and reach the same criminal elements and the same gangs in order to bring them to justice," he concluded.