Terrorist Attacks On Israelis Tripled In May

Israeli soldier guards scene of a suspected terror attack in which a Palestinian driver rammed into pedestrians at a Jerusalem light rail station. Image by gettty images

(JTA) — Terrorist attacks against Israelis more than tripled in May, which was the deadliest month in almost two years.

The increase to 449 incidents in May over April’s 126 incidents owes to the launching of hundreds of rockets last month from Gaza into Israel. The rockets killed four people and wounded eight out of the 10 wounded in terrorist attacks in May. The remaining two were stabbed in Jerusalem, the Israel Security Agency said in its monthly report for May published earlier this week.

Terrorist attacks in the West Bank, meanwhile, decreased by 43 percent, from 88 in April to 50 last month.

Last week, the Israel Security Agency, or ISA, revealed it had foiled a plan by Hamas to set off an explosive charge inside Israel on April 9, during the general elections. A 23-year-old man Yihia abu Dhia, whom ISA says is a Hamas operative, was arrested on March 31 in the West Bank village of A-Zaim in connection with the alleged plot. He had agreed to carry out a suicide bombing for handlers in Gaza, ISA said.

The intended target was a traffic artery in Ma’aleh Adumim, a settlement near Jerusalem, ISA’s statement read.