Terrorism in Israel: 2004 data

[Airbornelawyer]

2004 TERRORISM DATA

Source:
שירות ביטחון
Israeli Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet)
Jerusalem
4 January 2005

INTRODUCTION

2004 was the fourth year of the current round of the conflict with the Palestinians. It was characterized by several trends, the most prominent of which was a 45% drop in the number of those killed: 117 as opposed to 214 in 2003. There was a similar 41% drop in the number of those wounded: 589 as opposed to 1004 in 2003.

This decline in the number of those wounded stems from the foiling and/or disruption, mainly of suicide attacks. Thus, there were 15 suicide attacks in 2004, 0.4% of the total number of terrorist attacks, which caused 55 deaths, 48% of the total number of those killed. This is in contrast to 26 suicide attacks in 2003, which caused 144 deaths. However, the number of rocket and mortar attacks increased, with the number of deadly attacks among them declining.

It must be pointed out that the decline in the number of suicide attacks does not indicate any difference whatsoever in the motivation of the terrorist organizations to attack Israeli targets. Regarding the number of warnings throughout 2004, there was no significant change in the number of warnings from month to month.

[Airbornelawyer]

COUNTER-TERRORIST ACTIONS

In 2004, the security forces foiled 365 suicide attacks in Judea and Samaria. Those identified as "Arrested in their homes" include those who agreed to perpetrate terror attack and were waiting to be sent to attack.

See image02 below

In 2004, the security forces foiled an additional 159 terrorist attacks that were on the verge of being perpetrated.

See image03 below

SECURITY FENCE

The security fence continues to prove its effectiveness in Samaria-based terrorist infrastructures from preventing large-scale deadly terrorist attacks. In 2003, these infrastructures succeeded in perpetrating 12 large-scale deadly terrorist attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 74 people and the wounding of 374. In 2004, these infrastructures succeeded in perpetrating two large-scale deadly terrorist attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 14 people and the wounding of 106.

The terrorist infrastructures are trying to overcome the obstacle of the security fence in several ways. Thus, for example, terrorist elements are trying to bypass the fence via areas in which there is still no fence, via the agricultural gates along the fence, via going under/over the fence, etc. Most prominent is the trend of moving the departure points for terrorists to Judea, where there is no fence, by using terrorist infrastructures there as a forward platform for dispatching terrorists to Israel.

Judea had been marked approximately one year ago by Samaria-based terrorist infrastructures as a significant weak point that must be utilized in order to bypass the security fence. This is because extensive parts of the fence have not been completed which enables the dispatching of terrorists to Israel along several potential infiltration routes without Israeli tracking systems and because the absence of a significant obstacle in the area between Samaria and Judea allows for the relatively free movement of terrorists and war materiel between the two areas. An example of this are the two of the more recent suicide attacks in Israel – the 1.11.04 attack at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and the 22.9.04 attack at French Hill in Jerusalem – and in a series of planned attacks that have been thwarted in recent months after the perpetrators had already gone from Samaria to Judea.

Today, the main routes for dispatching terrorists are: From Samaria via Ramallah to Jerusalem, or from Samaria via Jerusalem’s northern neighborhoods to into the city. In this context, it should be pointed out that 1.11.04 Tel Aviv suicide attack was perpetrated by a terrorist who – accompanied by another terrorist – had gone from Nablus to Tapuah junction to Kalandia to the Abu Dis area (where he joined up with an eastern Jerusalem taxi driver) to Highway #1 to Tel Aviv. Three Israeli citizens were murdered in the attack. The Tel Aviv bombing is a clear indicator of the trends which strengthened among the terrorist organizations regarding the perpetrating of attacks: Using weaker populations (the Tel Aviv attack was perpetrated by a 16-year-old minor), and exploiting the population of eastern Jerusalem, to perpetrate terrorist attacks.

[Airbornelawyer]

USING WEAKER POPULATIONS – I.E. MINORS AND WOMEN – TO PERPETRATE TERRORIST ATTACKS

With the construction of the security fence, which makes it difficult for the terrorist organizations to perpetrate attacks, the terrorist organizations have increasingly used minors and women to perpetrate suicide attacks by exploiting their innocent appearance, in an attempt to fool security force personnel at the various checkpoints.

2004 saw a 64% increase in the number of minors involved in terrorism, as opposed to 2003. The innocent appearance of children and young people arouses less suspicion and enables them to more easily blend in crowded places. Moreover, children and teenagers are seen by the terrorist organizations as more easily influenced and constitute an easier recruitment base for suicide attacks.

Women are also seen as arousing less suspicion than men. In each instance in which women were involved, the terrorists were aware of their need for a disguise that would allow them to blend in on the Israeli street. The terrorists tried to give themselves an overall Western appearance, including by wearing non-traditional clothing such as short clothes, pregnancy outfits and modern hairstyles. In most of the aforementioned incidents, the women were from the margins of Palestinian society and did not usually fit the "accepted" profile of "the average Palestinian woman", with the main motive for the involvement of women in terrorism being personal (alongside the basic nationalistic motive). Thus, for example, there is the romantic motive (i.e. romantic links with the militants involved in recruiting them) and the personal distress motive (i.e. suicidal tendencies in the context of despair over life and parental opposition to the daughter’s marriage).

The integration of women in terrorism is divided among various levels with the uppermost being the involvement of women as suicide bombers or intended suicide bombers whose intentions were foiled before they could be realized. Moreover, women have served as assistants for terrorist activity regarding both planning and perpetration.

WOMEN’S AND MINOR’S INVOLVEMENT IN TERROR ATTACKS IN 2003-2004.

See image04 below.

[Airbornelawyer]

EXPLOITATION OF RESIDENTS OF EASTERN JERUSALEM IN ORDER TO PERPETRATE ATTACKS

Approximately 250,000 Palestinians (most of them residents) with Israeli identity cards live in the Jerusalem metropolitan area, with approximately 150,000 living in eastern Jerusalem and the rest in areas adjacent to the city. In 2004, there was a 62% increase in the involvement of eastern Jerusalem Arabs in terrorism: 32 residents of eastern Jerusalem were involved in terrorism in 2003, 52 in 2004.

As the terrorist organizations find it more difficult to independently infiltrate terrorists inside the "Green Line"/Jerusalem, especially upon the establishment of the security fence, the residents of eastern Jerusalem have become a preferred recruitment target for the terrorist organizations, especially Hamas, for perpetrating attacks inside Israel and the Green Line. This is in light of their obvious advantages: freedom of movement within Israel, knowledge of the area (especially the Jerusalem area) and the ability to blend into the Israeli milieu.

The terrorist organizations' motive in recruiting these populations is two-fold: On the one hand, like other Israeli citizens, they hold Israeli ID and driver’s licenses, which gives them freedom of movement and access to a greater range of targets. Moreover, their familiarity with the Hebrew language and Israeli culture enables these residents to succeed in creating social and economic ties with Jews and in integrating with them. On the other hand, they continue to be loyal – and maintain ties – to the "territories."

The involvement of eastern Jerusalem also features in the logistical planning ahead of perpetrating terrorist attacks and mainly includes renting safe flats to serve as jumping-off points, purchasing vehicles and war materiel, setting up explosives laboratories and preparing suicide terrorists before they set out.

IRANIAN AND HEZBOLLAH INVOLVEMENT IN PALESTINIAN TERROR

Another noticeable trend in 2004 was increased involvement in Palestinian terrorism by Iran and Hezbollah, as Iran’s forward military arm against Israel. Hezbollah has activated dozens of terror cells in the Gaza Strip and in Judea and Samaria; in 2004, these cells perpetrated 68 terrorist attacks in which 24 Israelis were murdered and 52 wounded. This represents 21% of the total number of fatalities.

Hezbollah has organized itself in a similar way to Palestinian terror groups such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Specifically noticeable are instructions to perpetrate large-scale deadly attacks within Israeli territory, negotiating between terrorists active in a variety of different types of terror activity, and a concentrated effort to upgrade its terrorist capabilities, which is seen in three main channels: information-sharing on explosives, weapons smuggling, recruiting new terrorists. In addition Hezbollah transfers large amounts of money to various terrorist infrastructures.

Funding terrorism

The large funds transferred by Hezbollah, as well as by Hamas and Islamic Jihad HQs in Syria, are the fuel for motivating terrorism. Terrorist leaders often make a living from their terrorist activities, despite the fact that they are not involved in it for ideological reasons. Moreover, suicide terrorists are often recruited due to financial or social problems, and are promised that their families will be looked after, after their death.

In 2004 a number of senior Tanzim terrorists were arrested, and during their investigations they told the ISA about a 'price list for suicide terrorist rates' including:

• Ahmed Sa’ari Hassin, Islamic Jihad terrorist from Tulkarm: He was involved in the 30.3.03 suicide terrorist attack in Netanya in which 32 citizens were wounded. He received NIS 10,000 up front from the Islamic Jihad in Tulkarm. A Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist told him that he would receive more money only after he perpetrated the attack.
  
• Va’il Ah’naam, Tanzim terrorist from Tulkarm refugee camp. Ah’naam had connections with a Lebanese terrorist who gave him: $7,000 to prepare explosives. $1,500 to purchase weapons. (The money was transferred to his sister’s bank account.) $10,000 to finance his military operations. (The money was transferred to various women’s bank accounts with whom he had a relationship.).
  
• Muntsar Abu-A'liyon, Tanzim leader in Jenin. He was involved in targeting and financing many terror attacks, including four shooting ambushes in June 2003 in which four civilians were murdered. During his investigation he said that the base cost of perpetrating a terror attack is between NIS 3,000 – NIS 5,000.

[Airbornelawyer]

SUMMARY DATA

DIVISION OF DEATHS 2003-2004

See image 05 below.

DIVISION OF INJURIES 2003-2004

See image 06 below.

TERROR ATTACKS, VICTIMS AND INJURIES 2003-2004

See image 07 below.

NUMBER OF SHOOTING ATTACKS, KASSAM ROCKETS, MORTAR SHELLS AND EXPLOSIVES 2003-2004

See image 08 below.

[Airbornelawyer]

SUMMARY DATA – ORGANIZATIONS

Tanzim and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

See image 09 below.

In 2004, the Tanzim perpetrated 97 terrorist attacks, as opposed to 117 in 2003. The data shows that the Tanzim began the year with rocket attacks as part of the terrorist organizations’ general effort to launch rockets at Israeli targets even though no rocket attacks were attributed to it in 2003. Similarly, it is possible to discern a massive decline in the number of Tanzim-perpetrated shooting attacks.

Hamas

See image 10 below.

In 2004, Hamas perpetrated 555 terrorist attacks, as opposed to 218 in 2003. In 2004 we witnessed a massive increase in the number of attacks perpetrated by Hamas, along with a change in the character of the attacks. The increase was seen in the number of Kassam rockets and mortar shells launched, while there was a marked decrease in the number of suicide attacks. In 2004 there was a 500% increase in mortar fire and a 40% increase in Kassam rocket fire in comparison with 2003. There was a 77% decrease in the number of suicide attacks in comparison with 2003.

Islamic Jihad

See image 11 below.

In 2004, Islamic Jihad perpetrated 106 terror attacks as opposed to 71 in 2003. Islamic Jihad did not realize one suicide attack in 2004, as opposed to the six attacks it perpetrated in 2003. Islamic Jihad did increase its activities in high-trajectory weapon fire from two terrorist attacks in 2003 to 17 in 2004 – an increase of 750%.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Good stuff, AL. Thanks.

[12B4S]

Damn!! AL........ What I knew gut wise... but could never describe like that. Thanks
Need to read that a few times... let alone print it.

[Archer06]

This proves what a lot of people have been saying all along.

[G]

Airbornelawyer:

PM inbound.

Take Care...

G