General Information

Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (May 24-30, 2023)

This past week there were four terrorist attacks: a shooting attack in Hermesh in which an Israeli civilian was killed; two shooting attacks, one in Gan Ner and the other in Mevo Dotan,; and a Palestinian armed with a knife infiltrated the settlement of Teneh Omarim south of Hebron. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Nablus, Jenin, Jericho and Hebron. The Gaza Strip remained relatively calm. Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar's National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, visited Gaza and left without announcing when the monthly funds would be distributed. Hamas claimed there were technical problems. Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh visited Egypt Hamas' Islamic Bloc won its second straight victory in Birzeit University student council elections.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (May 17-23, 2023)

This past week Palestinian terrorists carried out three attacks: two shooting attacks without casualties and one vehicular ramming attack in Hawwara in which an IDF soldier was injured. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Nablus, Jenin and Hebron. Three Palestinians were killed in an exchange of fire with the forces. The Flag March held on Israel's Jerusalem Day passed without exceptional incident. Palestinians launched a media campaign calling for Palestinian flags to be waved and hung on houses. The visit of Israeli minister of national security Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount was widely condemned. The Gaza Strip has been relatively quiet. Efforts are being made to estimate the damage. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which regards the operation as a Palestinian success story, held rallies in the Gaza Strip, Jenin, Lebanon and Syria to commemorate its shaheeds.
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Palestinians Killed during Operation Shield and Arrow in the Gaza Strip – Findings and Analysis

On May 13, 2023, after five days of Operation Shield and Arrow, a ceasefire was reached. The ministry of health in Gaza published final data about the number of Palestinians killed and wounded in Operation Shield and Arrow; according to the data 33 Palestinians were killed, 22 fighting men, six children, three women and two non-combatant elderly men. Reportedly, 190 people were wounded, 64 of them children. The ITIC examination of the identities of the 33 fatalities and found the following: Twenty were military-terrorist operatives, 13 from the PIJ. Five were from the PFLP. Two were affiliated with terrorist organizations. Three women and six children were killed.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (May 10-16, 2023)

This past week there a Palestinian tried to carry out a stabbing attack at the Shaked Crossing. Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Nablus and Tulkarm. In preparation for Israel's Jerusalem Day and the Flag March on May 18, 2023, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) warned Israel not to cross "red lines" in al-Aqsa mosque, threatening that the next battle would be larger and not confined to the Gaza Strip. Between May 9 and 13, 2023, Israel waged Operation Shield and Arrow in the Gaza Strip, which ended with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. On May 15, 2023, Palestinians marked Nakba Day with various events in the Gaza Strip and Ramallah.
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Operation “Shield and Arrow” In the Gaza Strip – Summary

After five days of fighting, at 10 p.m. on May 13, 2023, Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) declared a ceasefire. During the five days of fighting six PIJ high-ranking operatives died in targeted killings and 422 terrorist targets were attacked. Over the five days of the operation, terrorist operatives in the Gaza Strip, primarily from the PIJ, fired 1,469 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, 1,131 of which landed inside Israeli territory. Despite the destruction and loss of life, according to the narrative of the terrorist organizations, especially the PIJ and Hamas, the round of fighting was a Palestinian success. In reality, it was another round of IDF-PIJ fighting in which Hamas did not activate its military capabilities.
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Spotlight on Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (May 3 – 9, 2023)

This past week there was a stabbing attack near Hawwara in which an IDF soldier was wounded. Two other stabbing attacks, one near Hawwara and the other in the Old City of Jerusalem, were prevented. Israeli security forces' counterterrorism activities focused on Nablus and Tulkarm. In the early morning hours of May 9, 2023, Israel began Operation Shield and Arrow with the targeted killing of three senior PIJ terrorist operatives in the Gaza Strip. The smuggling of loaded handguns and ammunition was prevented at the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with members of the leaderships of the various Palestinian terrorist organizations during a visit to Damascus.
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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.