Israel’s Shin Bet General Security Service has released a report showing a serious increase in terror in Judea and Samaria in 2013.
Terror attempts in the West Bank more than doubled, with the numbers of attacks climbing from 578 in 2012 to 1,271 in 2013, according to the Shin Bet report.
The numbers, including those who were wounded by firebombs and stones causing conditions listed as moderate or worse, include injuries from shootings. They do not include those lightly wounded by firebombs and rock-throwing.
Of the six Israelis killed in terror attacks in 2013, five were in Judea and Samaria – as opposed to 2012, when all of the 10 Israeli fatalities from terror attacks took place inside the Green Line. Of those who were killed in 2013, three were civilians and three were members of Israeli security forces, including 20-year-old Air Force Sgt. Tomer Hazan, who was kidnapped and strangled.
The Shin Bet arrested more than 2,500 terror suspects in 2013, most of them in Judea and Samaria. The case of the September killing in Hebron of 20-year-old Givati Brigade soldier Gal Kobi remains unsolved.
INCREASE IN TERROR IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA NOTED IN LATTER HALF OF 2013
Most attacks took place between September 2013 and January 1, 2014. Thirty-one injuries were caused by hurled rocks or fire bombs.
In December, a terror attack failed when an Israeli noticed a bomb in a Bat Yam bus. An Islamic Jihad cell from Bethlehem was behind this attempt, and its members – including a Palestinian policeman – were arrested.
Last year was marked by incidents carried out by lone attackers or a pair of attackers, and some ere ascribed to a combination of criminal and nationalist motives. Additionally, the Shin Bet identified a new jihadist group linked to Al-Qaida toward the end of the year.
In the terror infrastructure’s desire to increase its number of attacks in Judea and Samaria, Hamas set up a command center in Gaza, staffed largely by former prisoners released in the 2011 deal to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit. The report showed that 40 terror attacks were thwarted, which were directed from Gaza, and involved those released Palestinian prisoners. Hamas made a major effort to mount attacks from the West Bank against Israelis; 84 such attempts were foiled, the Shin Bet said.
In 2013, there were 55 attacks originating from Gaza, as opposed to 1,130 in 2012, according to the Shin Bet report. This was the most significant decrease in the report. These figures include 63 rockets and 11 mortars fired into Israel in 2013, as opposed to 2,327 and 230 in 2012, respectively.
In addition, the Shin Bet said it managed to prevent 190 suicide attacks in 2013, as opposed to 112 in 2012.
Author: Shoshana Kesner
Date: Jan. 29, 2014