BICOM

Israel’s domestic security agency, the Shin Bet released its annual report yesterday, which revealed a sharp increase in terror attacks in the West Bank during the past year.

In total, there were 1,271 terror attacks in the West Bank during 2013, compared to 578 in 2012. Most of these incidents involved throwing firebombs or rocks. However, five resulted in the deaths of Israelis. By contrast, all Israeli fatalities at the hands of terrorists in 2012 took place within Israel’s pre-1967 borders, mainly during Operation Pillar of Defence.

Tensions have been simmering in the West Bank during the past few months with a number of serious and deadly terror attacks launched against Israelis in the area since October. Last month, two police officers were stabbed in separate incidents. In October, an Israeli man was bludgeoned to death in the Jordan Valley and in September an IDF soldier was kidnapped and murdered near Beit Amin and another was shot dead in Hebron.

Underscoring Israeli security concerns, the Shin Bet report also revealed that more than 2,500 terror suspects were arrested in 2013, most from the West Bank. During the past year, 190 terror attacks were prevented, including 16 suicide bombings. Among the terror attacks thwarted, 40 were to have been perpetrated in the West Bank but were coordinated from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, many involving Palestinian prisoners released in the deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in 2011. The Shin Bet said Hamas made a major effort to mount West Bank attacks in 2013 and that 84 attempts to do so had been prevented.

The report also noted the activity of an al-Qaeda affiliated terror cell operating in the West Bank for the first time. Three cell members were killed by Israeli security forces in November after they resisted arrest. 20 suspects were later apprehended by Israeli and Palestinian authorities in connection with planning bombings and abductions.