IDF: Less Qassams since pullout

Army says there was 55 percent drop in number of Israelis murdered by terrorists; Islamic Jihad has significantly increased activity

Hanan Greenberg|Published: 12.13.05 , 14:27

In 2005, there was a significant drop of 55 percent in the number of Israelis murdered in terrorist attacks compared to last year, IDF statistics show.

This year, 52 Israelis were killed, compared to 118 in 2004.

Five suicide bombings were carried out this year, compared to 14 in the previous year. The senior officer who presented these statistics summing up the year said that the Islamic Jihad is responsible for almost half of the terrorist attacks this year, and has significantly increased its attempts to carry out terror attacks in Israel, compared to drops in attempts by Hamas.

The officer said the statistics reflected the IDF and Shin Bet's war against the terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, as well as Hamas' ceasefire and the economic improvement on the Palestinian street.

"We are not seeing entire factions of Palestinians getting in line to carry out suicide bombings, as we saw in 2003," said the officer.

Drop in rocket, mortar attacks

He added that in 2005, there were 164 incidents involving the firing of mortars and Qassam rockets into Israel, compared to 288 in 2004. The officer said that the IDF would continue to work against the threat.

"If there's a need we'll increase operations; for example, we'll notify residents who live in the area used to launch rockets that they must leave within 12 hours, and then we'll carry out massive firing on the area," said the officer.

In the last quarter of this year, 78 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza, compared with 304 in the third quarter of the year.

Speaking about the increase in the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinians, the officer stressed the trends indicating improvement the economic situation, such as the growth in Palestinian gross national product. The officer said this was a significant topic in relation to examining the army's anti-terror operations.

Despite the relative lull in terror attacks, the officer said there was an increase in attacks along the northern border, where the number of incidents rose to 31, compared to the 18 attacks of the previous year.