Number of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem drops to 3-year low
Published July 6, 2018
(JTA) — Israeli security services documented only six terrorist attacks in Jerusalem in June — the lowest figure on record for any given month in at least three years.
The tally constitutes a sharp drop in attacks in Jerusalem from May, when security forces documented 34 such incidents in the capital. The decrease was part of an overall drop of 40 percent in the number of terrorist attacks documented in June, when 220 such incidents were registered, the Israel Security Service said in its monthly report published this week.
The figure for May was 365, the highest number in over 2 years of terrorist attacks on Israelis.
The first half of June was Ramadan, a Muslim month-long holiday when observant worshipers fact from sunrise to sundown. Ramadan usually features a spike, not a decrease in terrorist activity. Israeli security services massively increased their presence in Jerusalem in June to prevent disturbances.
Five people were wounded in the terrorist attacks in May, one of the moderately and the rest lightly.
Through May and June, the Hamas terrorist group organized weekly demonstrations along the border with Israel. Tens of thousands of people arrived to some of the demonstrations. They were labeled nonviolent events. However, they featured the hurling of firebombs at troops near the fence and attempts to breach it.
More than 135 Palestinians have died in the rioting since March, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported.
As one massive riot on May 14, Israeli troops killed 61 people. A senior Hamas official said that 50 of the 61 killed in or immediately after that riot were members of his organization.
Additionally, Palestinians have burned hundreds of acres of land near the border by sending over kites carrying torches and helium balloons.