The number of terrorist attacks recorded in Israel last month decreased by 32 percent over December, bringing the total to a level that was last observed prior to September’s escalation in violence.
The Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, documented 169 terrorist attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in January, compared with 246 such incidents the previous month, Shin Bet wrote in its latest monthly report. More than 75 percent of those attacks involved the hurling of firebombs.
It is the first time since July that the number of attacks dropped below the 171 mark observed in August, according to Shin Bet’s figures. In September, October and November, Shin Bet recorded 223, 620 and 326 attacks respectively.
In October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the escalation “a terror wave.” It was widely referred to in Israel and Palestinian media as “the third intifada.”
While the overall number of attacks diminished, they proved deadlier last month than in July and August, when no Israelis died as a result of terrorist attacks and fewer than 10 were wounded. Five Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks in January, compared with only three in December and one in September. In November, 10 Israelis died in such attacks.
Dozens of Palestinians also have been killed, many of them by security forces or armed civilians while they were carrying out attacks. — jta