Shin Bet Head: Hundreds of Terror Attacks Thwarted This Year

Even as it is discussing a ceasefire deal for Gaza, Hamas is trying very hard to carry out terror attacks in Yehudah and Shomron, Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman said in a presentation to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday.

“In the past half-year we have foiled 480 organized terror attacks and 590 ‘lone wolf’ attacks.”

The attacks were aimed both at Jews in Yehudah and Shomron, as well as in Israel proper. In addition, said Argaman, terrorists had attempted to carry out attacks using cyber techniques and malware attacks. He did not specify the targets of those attacks.

Argaman warned Israelis not to be fooled by the seeming quiet in Yehudah and Shomron. “The situation in the region is actually quite complicated,” he said. “While it seems calm at the surface, that is not necessarily the case under the surface. These activities enable the residents of Yehudah and Shomron to live normal lives.”

And even in the case of Gaza, where Hamas is seemingly seeking to calm the situation, things are not stable. The deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza has led to a great deal of dissatisfaction among residents, and Hamas was using that dissatisfaction to extract concessions from Israel, which is interested in relieving the humanitarian situation. With that, the terror that has plagued Israel since March, including balloon terror attacks and rioting at the border fence, could start up again at any time. “We may be at the beginning of a major military action in Gaza, but on the other hand we are trying to stabilize the humanitarian situation there,” Argaman told the Committee MKs.