General Information

Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (September 20-27, 2023)

This past week Palestinians carried out eight terrorist attacks: six were shooting attacks a stabbing attack and a vehicular ramming attack. The Israeli security forces continued carrying out counterterrorism activities. Khaled Tabila, a senior Lion's Den group operative, was detained in Nablus; in an activity in Birzeit University, eight operatives of Hamas' Islamic Bloc student faction, who were planning terrorist attacks . violent clashes continued along the border security fence in the Gaza Strip. International and Arab efforts at mediation have yet to bear fruit. Reports continue about the Hamas administration's severe financial hardship. Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. It was his usual annual litany of complaints and demands, accusations against Israel and the assertion that the Palestinians would continue their "peaceful popular resistance" [popular terrorism]. His speech disappointed the Palestinians, who claimed that it was not assertive enough and did not reflect "the Palestinians' situation."
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (September 13-20, 2023)

This past week Palestinians carried out seven terrorist attacks. The Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Jeninn and Jericho; five Palestinians were killed. Meanwhile, the Palestinian security forces continued to detain wanted persons in Jenin. During the Jewish New Year tensions increased when Jewish worshipers entered the Temple Mount; the event was condemned by Palestinians and Arab countries.This past week riots were renewed along the Gaza border. One Palestinian was killed by IDF forces in the southern Gaza Strip and five others were killed by an explosive device in the eastern Gaza Strip before it could thrown at Israeli soldiers The Palestinian Authority (PA) continued its activities in preparation for Mahmoud Abbas' speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 2023. Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh are exploiting the visit to New York to meet with world leaders to mobilize support for the Palestinian issue.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (September 6-12, 2023)

This past week Palestinians carried out four terrorist attacks. Three were shooting attacks one was a stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Jenin and near Jericho. A rocket was unsuccessfully launched from west of Jenin at the Gilboa settlements in Israel. The rocket fell in Palestinian territory. Saleh al-'Arouri, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, said the "resistance" [anti-Israel terrorism] in Judea and Samaria would continue to develop. On September 12, 2023, the joint operations room of the military-terrorist wings of the Palestinian organizations held its fourth "military" maneuver. Hamas banned protest demonstrations near the security fence after that became a condition for the resumption of activity at the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Harsh international condemnations were leveled at Mahmoud Abbas' anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying remarks in a speech at a meeting of Fatah's Revolutionary Council.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 30 –September 5, 2023)

This past week there were four terrorist attacks: a vehicular ramming near the Maccabim crossing in which an IDF soldier was killed and five people were injured; a vehicular ramming in the south of Mount Hebron in which an IDF soldier was superficially injured; and two stabbing attacks in Jerusalem, in which one person was wounded. An IED was used to attack the security forces securing the worshippers at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus; four soldiers were injured. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities in Tulkarm, Tubas and Jenin. During an activity in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, IEDs ready for use were detonated.The decision of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli minister of national security, to limit the visits of the families of security prisoners, led to tension in the jails. The Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to develop and improve their rocket systems. An attempt to smuggle explosives from the Gaza Strip to Judea and Samaria was foiled.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 23 –29, 2023)

This past week there was one shooting attack no casualties were reported. Before the Friday prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinians rioted and clashed with Israeli police forces; several policemen and Palestinians were injured. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, detaining Palestinians suspected of terrorist activities and confiscating weapons and propaganda material. Palestinians made three attempts to cross the border security fence from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. Two rockets were launched towards the sea, what the Palestinian organizations called experiments to "improve rocket capabilities.". A demonstration was held in the east of Gaza City where demonstrators approached the security fence and clashed with IDF forces. The decision made by Israel's Political-Security Cabinet to target terrorists and their dispatchers raised concern among the Palestinians.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (August 16 –22, 2023)

This past week Palestinians carried out four shooting attacks, two of them deadly. The Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities. A laboratory and a warehouse with 15 IEDs ready for use were located in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus,.The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, led by Hamas, continue to develop and improve their rockets and other weapons capabilities. On August 17, 2023, Hamas fired fifty Ayash 250 rockets towards the sea. On two consecutive days the Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepted UAVs flying over the Gaza Strip. About a thousand security prisoners began a hunger strike. Sources in Hamas, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA) warned Israel not to harm the prisoners. According to reports, all the operatives of the Balata Battalion in Nablus surrendered to the national security forces. PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh continued diplomatic activity for recognition of a Palestinian state and to enlist international aid. On August 20, 2023, the school year began for Palestinian children.
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General Information

For decades, the Palestinian terrorist organizations have waged a vicious war against the State of Israel, starting in the 1920s and 1930s, causing untold bloodshed. Their mass-casualty suicide bombing attacks claimed hundreds of victims. After the Six Day War, Palestinian terrorism accelerated and the number of terrorist attacks in Israel and abroad against Jewish and Israeli targets increased.

During the 1970s, planes were hijacked by terrorists from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  After the Black September events (the removal of terrorists from Jordan in 1970), most prominent were terrorist attacks abroad carried out by a terrorist group from the Fatah organization calling itself Black September. Those attacks culminated in 1972, when 11 Israeli sportsmen were murdered at the Munich Olympics. Trans-border terrorist attacks were also carried out (attacks from Jordan until 1970 and attacks from the Lebanese border in the 1970s), some of them targeting Israeli civilians. In the 1990s, suicide bombing attacks became the main form of struggle carried out by the Palestinians, first by the radical Islamic organizations, primarily Hamas, and later also by secular organizations such as Fatah. 


There was a significant increase in terrorist attacks during the Palestinian terrorist campaign of 2000-2005 (known as the Al-Aqsa or Second Intifada), during which a great many attacks were carried out, including many suicide bombing attacks which disrupted daily life in Israel and threatened its large cities. The second half of 2015 and early 2016 witnessed a wave of terror characterized by lone-wolf attacks, mainly stabbing, vehicular and shooting attacks.