According to state security figures since the Intifadah began
five years ago, 5765 was the quietest year, with six suicide
attacks compared to 13 in 5764.
Fifty-seven Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks in
5765, ending with Sasson Nuriel Hy"d, who was
kidnapped and murdered shortly before Rosh Hashonoh by a
Hamas cell from Ramallah.
According to IDF figures, during the course of the entire
Intifadah 1,060 Israeli have been killed and over 6,089
injured in 26,159 terrorist attacks. Since September, 2000
terrorist organizations executed 144 suicide attacks that
caused the deaths of 515 Israelis and 3,428 injuries.
Security officials attribute the decrease in terrorist
activity during the past year to the abatement declared in
January shortly after the death of Yassir Arafat and Abu
Mazzen's rise to power.
"The year 2005 was definitely the turning point," said
Jerusalem District Police Commander Ilan Franco, summarizing
the year's terrorist activity in Jerusalem, which used to be
a focus for terrorist attacks. "We marked a year without a
large-scale attack in the city. The last large-scale attack
here was in September of last year. The city is still under
great threat, but it must be noted that there are no concrete
warnings."
On January 5, 2005 the tehadiya ("pacification") was
declared, which Abu Mazzen is trying to use to rein in terror
and improve the security situation through an agreement with
the resistance organizations. Three thousand five hundred and
thirty terrorist attacks were carried out between September
2004 and September 2005, killing 57 Israelis and wounding 516
others, compared to 3,877 attacks in the fourth year of the
conflict when 135 Israelis were killed and 567 were injured.
Twenty percent of Israeli terror victims during the current
conflict were involved in attacks from East Jerusalem: 186
deaths and 1,171 injuries.
Another significant shift in the characteristics of the
conflict occurred with the disengagement on September 15th,
when the Jewish settlements were evacuated and military
forces withdrawn from the entire Gaza Strip, including the
Philadelphi Road.
Anarchy descended on the Gaza Strip soon after Israel's
withdrawal. Within a matter of days 3,000 rifles, nearly a
million and a half bullets, over 150 projectiles and rockets,
hundreds of pounds of explosives and dozens of pistols were
smuggled in from Egypt.
On September 23, 2005 a mishap took place and during a Hamas
march in Jabaliya: a vehicle carrying Kassam rockets
exploded, causing the deaths of 19 Palestinians. Despite the
Hamas' direct responsibility for the incident, the
organization blamed Israel and launched 40 rockets on Negev
settlements during the course of a single night.
This represented the opening shots of Operation First Rain,
during which IDF forces attacked Hamas and Islamic Jihad
targets in Gaza and executed targeted assassinations against
ranking figures in the two organizations. Over 400 terrorists
were arrested.
