The impact of the Security Fence on the operational capability of the terror infrastructure in the Northern West Bank
1. It is clear that the security fence, built to save lives, has proven to do exactly that – it saves lives, every single day. A close look at the statistics regarding the terrorist attacks carried out by the terror infrastructure in the Northern West Bank prior to the erection of the fence, compared with the attacks carried out by the same infrastructure following the completion of the fence, illustrates a sharp decrease in terrorist attacks carried out against innocent Israeli civilians.
2. Over the past 11 months, from August 2003 to June 30, 2004, the terrorist infrastructure in the Northern West Bank managed to carry out three suicide attacks carried out in Israel (all of which occurred in the second half of 2003), killing 26 Israelis and wounding 76, (on two occasions the terrorists infiltrated through areas in the Northern West Bank in which the fence is yet to be completed. On the third occasion the suicide bomber infiltrated Israel through the Bartah crossing using a Jordanian passport. She managed to do so due to tendency of the soldiers to be more lenient with Palestinian women.
3. In comparison, prior to the erection of the fence, in the 34 months since the beginning of the conflict, this terror infrastructure succeeded in carrying out 73 attacks, in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1,950 were wounded.
Comparing these facts and figures establishes several important points:
– A sharp decrease of aproximately 90% in the number of successful terror attacks– from an average of 26 attacks per year prior to the establishment of the fence, to three the year following the completion of the fence.
– A sharp decrease of approximately 70% in the number of casualties from terror attacks- from an average of 103 Israelis murdered a year prior to the establishment of the fence, down to 28 the year following the completion of the fence.
– A sharp decrease (roughly 85% ) in the number of wounded- from an average of 688 Israelis wounded a year prior to the establishment of the fence, to 83 the year following the completion of the fence.
4. During the abovementioned period, the Israeli security forces thwarted dozens of planned attacks in the final stages of their implementation. As a result of the successful thwarting of these attacks and following the arrests of the terrorists and the heads of terror, Israeli security forces uncovered 24 explosive belts and charges intended to be used for these attacks.
5. It is now clear that the reason, to a great extent, for the sharp decrease in the number of suicide bombings in Israel is the result of the security barrier. This, alongside the daily operations aimed at thwarting attacks enables us to save lives.
6. Following the success of the security barrier, we are now witnessing a phenomenon of which terrorists attempt to launch their attacks and infiltrate from areas to the South and to the places where the fence has not yet been completed.(Mainly through Jerusalem and Ramallah). Nevertheless, all attempts to infiltrate through the south have been thwarted since the fence was erected, due to our knowledge that terrorists must move south to carry out attacks.
– Between October 2000 and July 2003, (prior to the fence): 293 Israelis were murdered in 63 attacks.
– Between August 2003 and June 2004, 26 Israelis were murdered in three attacks.
– In the year 2002, the Israeli home front suffered 46 suicide attacks murdering 213 Israelis and wounding 1,342. Seventeen of these attacks took place in Jerusalem.
– In the year 2003, the Israeli home front suffered 17 suicide attacks murdering 138 Israelis and wounding 701, five of the attacks took place in Jerusalem.
– In the first six months of 2004 the Israeli home front suffered four suicide attacks, two of which took place in Jerusalem.
These figures show that the security fence saves lives.