AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Two Israeli Embassy staffers were mourned today after they were shot and killed in the nation's capital last night.

GEOFF BENNETT: The killings of the two young officials sparked immediate global outrage and are being investigated as a hate crime and terrorism.

The alleged assailant was charged late today with two counts of first-degree murder, along with other crimes.

He reportedly yelled "Free Palestine" after he was detained and admitted to the shooting.

In a moment, Nick Schifrin speaks with Israel's ambassador to the U.S., but first has this report.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It was a hate crime that ended a love story.

30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky planned on proposing to 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim next week.

He never got the chance.

AYELET RAZIN, Friend and Colleague of Sarah Milgrim: They're a beautiful couple.

Sarah was a beautiful soul that was taken away from us brutally.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Ayelet Razin was a friend of Sarah Milgrim, an American from Kansas, a budding diplomat at the Israeli Embassy who described herself as a peace builder.

One of the final photos she posted on Instagram taken in a Moroccan mosque.

AYELET RAZIN: They had nothing to do with Israel or Israelis' government policy, the war, nothing.

They were murdered because they were Jews.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Lischinsky was an Israeli-German citizen who served in the Israeli military.

He was the son of a Jewish father and Christian mother.

In Washington, he was a political officer at the Israeli Embassy.

His friends described him as kind and thoughtful.

RONEN SHOVAL, Teacher of Yaron Lischinsky: We always say that God always takes the good ones.

And he was one of the best ones.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Ronen Shoval was Lischinsky's professor in Jerusalem.

RONEN SHOVAL: He was what we call a mensch, a real human being, smiling.

PAM BONDI, U.S. Attorney General: Our Jewish community must feel safe.

What we saw last night was disgusting.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At the site of their murder today, Attorney General Pam Bondi oversaw the investigation that extends from Washington to Chicago, where federal authorities searched the home of the man they say acted alone.

ELIAS RODRIGUEZ, Suspect: Free, free, Palestine!

NICK SCHIFRIN: Last night, Elias Rodriguez chanted as he was arrested after allegedly fatally shooting Milgrim and Lischinsky outside the Capital Jewish Museum.

Today, federal authorities confirm they are investigating Rodriguez's alleged manifesto titled "Escalate for Gaza: Bring the War Home."

It accuses Israel of committing -- quote - - "atrocities and genocide in Gaza."

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: For these neo-Nazis, "Free Palestine" is just today's version of "Heil Hitler."

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Jerusalem today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the murders on critics of Israel's war in Gaza.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: A few days ago, a top U.N. official said that 14,000 Palestinian babies would die in 48 hours.

You see, many international institutions are complicit in spreading this lie.

The press repeats it.

The mob believed it.

And a young couple is then brutally gunned down in Washington.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Foreign Minister Gideon Saar blamed European leaders, who called Israel's recent block on humanitarian aid to Gaza -- quote -- "cruel and indefensible."

GIDEON SAAR, Israeli Foreign Minister: This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, those leaders, who earlier this week criticized Israel's actions in Gaza denounced the violence.

And, tonight, Israel has increased security around its consulates and embassies all over the world.