The Jerusalem Post - A month after Operation Guardian of the Walls, the IDF continues to struggle to maintain calm in the West Bank. With Israel’s attention focused on the Gaza Strip, the flames of violence in the West Bank are at risk of exploding.
According to data released by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), there were 592 attacks in the West Bank and another 178 in Jerusalem in the month of May, compared to a total of 104 in April (80 in the West Bank and 24 in Jerusalem). The May attacks included 401 firebombings, 33 pipe bombs, 87 arson attacks, 47 small-arms fire, two grenade attacks, one vehicular attack and others.
One Israeli civilian, Yehuda Guetta, was also killed in a shooting attack at the Tapuah junction in early May by 44 year-old Muntasir Shalabi.
Most of the attacks that took place were not carried out by groups, but by lone wolves. Those kinds of attacks, the IDF has admitted, are much more challenging to thwart than attacks planned by groups. If you don’t have an organization you don’t have the signature of the preparedness of the specific attack. Despite the challenges, the great majority of attacks have been thwarted by security forces.
But, the high number of thwarted attacks also indicate that the flames of violence are growing in the West Bank.
While there have been significantly less....READ MORE
The Jerusalem Post is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. In 1950, it changed its name to The Jerusalem Post.