Security service thwarted 430 attacks in West Bank and Jerusalem as Israel continues to rely on advanced tech to uncover terror plots.
The Shin Bet security service foiled nearly 90 percent of attempted terror attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem in 2020. The agency’s annual report says that Palestinian terrorists tried to carry out more than 480 significant attacks over the year.
The attempted attacks included shootings and abductions of IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians. Dozens of such attacks were ordered by Gaza terror groups, security officials said earlier this year. Â Â
Shin Bet’s agents working in cooperation with elite IDF and police units thwarted 430 terror incidents, the report said. Overall, three Israelis were killed during the year and 46 were wounded in 56 attacks that originated in the West Bank.
Top threat: Hamas
Most of the successful attacks were perpetrated by lone wolves and local terror cells, Shin Bet said. Hamas continued to pose the gravest threat but faced significant difficulties in breaching Israel’s defenses, the report said.
The security services carried out extensive operations against the Popular Front as well, thwarting numerous attacks. The COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to the decline in terror.
In recent years, Shin Bet developed state-of-the-art technologies to counter terrorism threats. The agency dramatically shifted the focus of its efforts and relies on powerful cyber tools to detect and eliminate terror plots.
As part of these efforts, the security services created sophisticated methods to identify potential lone wolf attackers by closely monitoring social media chatter.
