IDF: Israeli casualties down last year, but terror activity is up
IDF: Israeli casualties down last year, but terror activity is up By Amos HarelThe noteworthy drop in Israeli casualties from Palestinian attacks belies the fact that there has been "significant escalation on the ground in terms of the threat levels and the number of attempts to dispatch suicide bombers" in recent months, a senior officer in the IDF Central Command told reporters yesterday.
Relaying data on violence in the territories during the past year, the officer said that 187 Palestinians, currently in Israeli custody, were involved in conspiracies to carry out suicide bombing attacks in 2006.
Last year, 11 Israeli citizens were killed in two suicide bombings perpetrated within the Green Line, the lowest such figure since 2001.According to the senior officer, the greatest asset in the arsenal of the security forces is the ability to operate freely in Palestinian cities.
During the period of tahdiye (calm), between January and September of 2005, the IDF avoided entering Palestinian towns, but once the agreement that led to the calm collapsed, it was necessary to use greater numbers of troops in order to renew operations inside the cities.
"We used to deploy an entire battalion in the town of Qabatiya, near Jenin, and we would still encounter heavy fire," the officer says, to describe the situation following the tahdiye hiatus. "Now we have gone back to a situation in which we can carry out arrests using troops in two jeeps," he added.
Both suicide bomb attacks in 2006 took place in the same neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv. The first caused only injuries, but the second claimed 11 lives.
In the army, the drop in the number of suicide bombings is explained by the serious blow suffered by Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank.
In 2005, 23 Israelis were killed in attacks for which this particular Islamic Jihad ring was responsible. However, last year, 33 members of the ring were either killed or arrested. Five members are believed to have remained at large and appear to have made efforts to recruit others to their ranks, but the effectiveness of the group has suffered a serious blow.
Under the IDF's actions we have dropped the attempted suicide bombings in 2006 down to one attempte every two days. In the past their has been years when their were up to 10 attempts on some days.
Great Job, Lads and keep up the good work.
