West Bank most-wanted terrorist list has dwindled to almost nil
For the first time since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, there is not a single security suspect being sought by Israel in the northern West Bank.
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel Tags: West Bank Palestinian Authority IDFThere is not a single security suspect being sought by Israel in the northern West Bank for the first time since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000. In the southern West Bank, there are only a few names on the security establishment's wanted list. The situation is a reflection of both the improved security situation in the West Bank and the increasing cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian Authority security forces.
The northern West Bank, notably Nablus and Jenin, but also Tul Karm and Qalqilyah, was where the most lethal terrorist networks established a foothold during the second intifada. Members of the Hamas terror network, which had its center of operations in Nablus, led the Israeli list of wanted terrorists, but Islamic Jihad and local cells of the Fatah military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, also exacted a heavy toll in the lives of Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers. In response, the security barrier was constructed, thousands of Palestinian terror suspects were arrested and interrogated and Israeli security forces made prolonged efforts to stop the wave of terror centered in the northern West Bank.
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Palestinian security officers, loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, take part in a training session in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, in June 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
The last fatal suicide bombing emanating from the northern West Bank occurred in April 2006 when 11 Israelis were killed at an explosion at a restaurant near Tel Aviv's old central bus station, committed by Islamic Jihad in Jenin. At the time, however, most senior terrorist figures in the northern West Bank had already been arrested and dozens of others had been killed by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security services.
A major reason for the shrinking list, however, is growing coordination with Palestinian security forces, which went into high gear against West Bank terrorist groups after Hamas completed its takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas in June of 2007 and expelled Fatah's leadership from the territory. The Palestinian Authority then began arresting hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members in the northern West Bank. At the same time, the PA, with Israel's assent, developed protective custody arrangements and later released hundreds of wanted Fatah figures who promised to lay down their weapons and refrain from terror activity against Israel. Israel, in turn, allowed the suspects who had not been involved in acts of murder to escape punishment as part of an effort to stabilize the situation on the ground and assist Palestinian security forces.
In the last year, several major terrorist attacks have been carried out in the West Bank, but Israel located the perpetrators, Fatah members from Nablus and Hamas members from the Hebron area, and killed them. Among the few wanted figures still at large are Hamas members operating in Hebron.
In 2004, when the number of wanted suspects still numbered in the hundreds and suicide attacks were still occurring within the borders of Israel proper, a controversy developed in the leadership of the Israeli security establishment. The head of the Shin Bet at the time, Avi Dichter, argued that the "terror barrel" had a bottom, and that a continued intensive fight against the terrorist organizations would reveal the bottom, meaning a complete halt to the wave of terrorism. Senior figures in the IDF contended, however, that despite the successes that were being chalked up at the time, it was not possible to entirely stop terrorism.
Dichter was correct to a great extent. Terrorism from the West Bank was stopped almost entirely and the wanted list for the northern West Bank dwindled to nothing. The improvement is also related to arrangement with the Palestinian Authority, which involved substantial compromise on Israel's part.
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Seeing as Israel doesn't care less about any peace process and would love the status quo of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation but being denied Israeli citizenship and rights that settlers so blatantly enjoy, maybe it is high time for the PA to say enough is enough! PA can't keep supporting Israel's hidden agenda of one Israel, but with Palestinians being treated third-rate residents and being penned into a corner.
or some variation thereof, no less than 6 times - in one paragraph! Of course "terrorist" is a completely empty, incredibly politicized term that usually says more about the person using it than it does anything else.
The list is zero. Thank God for small favors
It might have taken a bit of time, but both Israeli and Palestinian people have clearly benefited from the settlements throughout the WB. Unless you are of the mind that chaos and danger are the superior condition.
Since the "terrosist" activitis are close to Nil now then there are no more excuses to sustain the illegal occupation, to keep the "security" wall (even though i still prefer the term aparthied wall), to maintain the network of checkpoints, to keep the heavy presence of IDF forces within the westbank, to maintain the settlements along with the armed settlers.. but ohhh no wait i forgot all of the above aren't kept for security reasons.. they are all measures to gradually annex more land and wipe clean the palestinian cookroaches
"Holland is Germany"
If the list has dwindled to almost nil as you reported, it's only cuz resistance men are reorganizing their priorities and ploting their next strikes that would make the heart of the Zionist state bleed badly!! So do not take much joy in that! Do not be fools! Make yourselves ready for the next round. The traitor Abbas won't hekp you this time!!
We don't mind to bleed a little. What we do mind is that our respond would cause the enemy to bleed 100 time harder. In the end they get the message even if takes decades. The west Bank is a good example of it.
The different between the Palestinian's and the Israeli's is that the former have a cause, an irrevocable right to the land and a strong well to survive the unjust occupation, where as the later are fake temporary inhabitants who are not going to last much longer unless they change their strategies of hate and violence - and this is a fact that's ought to be realized sooner rather than later to save both sides any further blood shed (the 1:100 bloodshed relationship you talk about)
The increased cooperation is not the result of warm relations between Israel & the PA, anti-Israel incitement continues in PA mosques & schools. Hamas is threatening the Fatah's survival & they already kicked them out of Gaza. The PA also finally realized that terrorism hurts them the most.
Good new that the palestinians have learned that they are more fun things inte the world than to celebrate and dance if children are murdered in Israel or burning up i World Trade Center.
Hoping to hear the good news of israeli's learning that there are more fun things to do than to demolish mosques in the Negev, kill little kids, and take pictures next to handcuffed people and post them on facebook in celebration and utter pride
I like how Haaretz tries promote their left agenda. There is no terrorists in the west Bank is not because of Israeli confession, since on the top of Israeli concessions in 1996 and 2000 there were bombing every day! The simple reason is that IDF simply killed or arrest most of them showing that terrorism can be defeated. Also in terms of cooperation it seems that palestians are willing to cooperate with current government despite the fact that they getting no concessions, so again this is against the claim that Haaretz tries to promote that only concessions brings quiet
Where there are daily acts of terrorism committed by Settlers and the IDF?
against imposing your own will onto them? the cause for the resistance hasn't been "uprooted" yet. Israel is not one step closer to a lasting solution, rather the opposite is the case. Israel is merely fighting the symptoms, it's not trying to solve the underlying problem. but hey, as long as Israel can impose its will onto its neighbors, I'm pretty sure the Israeli people could not care less about their neighbors or a lasting solution. with this attitude, the Israeli people just have to prey that the stick of its neighbors never gets longer then the Israeli stick. I'm sure that's considered sustainable politics in Israel. Crazy...
And leave the place completely to the Palestinian police. What else could be the message?
IDF has assassinated them all, along with a few hundred innocent bystanders, or as Israel refers to them: Collateral damage.
Living in a city with her kids where rockets are a common occurrence, she is asked by her children " Mum, what are you or the govt going to do about the rockets, because we're scared ?". Mary replies, "oh nothing children, we'll just sit here and hope they miss us !?!?!??!?!?
Living in occupied territory where land theft and beatings and road blocks and white phosphorous and assaninations and house demolition and water and food shortages and beatings and raids late at night--to mention just a few are common. Mum--what are we going to about the occupation, we are scared. Nothing dear--we are going to leave when the soldiers come to destroy our home and kick us out.Isn,t it nice we were able to stay so long.
You refer here of course to Palestinian families who whilst being continuously terrorised by an oppressive occupier are also denied, by that same occupier, the right to their own government and their own sovereign state.
How palestinians have actually been killed by security forces in the westbank over the past 5 years Mary. Have you got a number? i think you will be surprised!
The number in Gaza is 4,484. I could not find data on the past 5 years. Source: http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp
How about son we will stop supporting terrorist that target innocent people with ineffective weapons and we will not them use as as weapons and sheilds
How many of those the Israelis killed were doing evil things like attending weddings, waiting for a city bus, eating in a restaurant, shopping, loitering near a nightclub, you know, all those valid reasons the Palestinian terrorists use to kill Israelis. You conveniently ignore the content of the killings by both sides.
so if the terrorist threat has dwindled. What's up with the daily raids? Keep up the pressure? Target practice for the IDF? Harassment? Or is it just to arrest all those who dare to protest, what in Israeli vocubulaire these days is all incitement? Probably all of the above huh?
.....while on the other hand she rewards Palestinian violent resistance with concessions (unilateral Gaza withdrawal, abducted Israeli soldiers etc....). This kind of (rather strange) behaviour might be one of the root causes for the fact, that the Jewish state just can't find its secure place in the ME, because it leads the Arabs to believe, that the only language the Israeli people understand, is the language of violence.....
i hope that the people in the westbank can see their beautiful future! without terrorism! and i hope that the people in the gaza strip can see how quick their suffering could end with the right persons in the lead!
I wish turkey steps in and demolishes and does same to israel.
Because turkey didnt kill any people (armenians?????) dont make me laugh
Hypocrite.
So WHAT is different from today and a year ago? Nothing. So if the Terrorist threat from the West Bank today does not exist, what was the situation a year ago. The answer is the same as it was. The Terrorist Threat is no change from a year ago. Israel will never negotiate in good faith with the Palestinian people. I welcome refutation of the argument that there is absolutely NOTHING that the Palestinians might acceptable to Israel. Now, may we discuss what the world is going to do when it has to - despite decades of cowardice - finally save the Palestinians from Israel. or be responsible for the world abandoning the Palestinians from the fate which they must suffer.
in 1948 they had all they are demanding now. In fact nothing has changed they want both states through the peace process their own state and Israels state overcome by millions of Arabs forced into it. "I welcome refutation of the argument"
I have posted this for you a thousand times and still you come back with your lies and spin. Answer the question---did or did not the following leaders make the following statements and if they did--and they did---how does your argument have credibility. Here again are the statements. " One day after the UN vote to partition Palestine, Menachem Begin, the commander of the Irgun gang and Israel's future Prime Minister between 1977-1983, proclaimed: "The Partition of Palestine is illegal. It will never be recognized .... Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And for Ever." (Iron Wall p. 25) * ""Shamir has said Israel must keep the territories in order to accommodate the immigrants. "A great aliyah [immigration]," he said, "requires a Greater Israel."(5) He has insisted that, although Soviet Jews are not being directed to the territories, any Jew has the right to live anywhere in the land of Israel, which for most Israelis includes the territories. As Foreign Minister David Levy said in August: "The right to settle every part of Israel is unequivocally clear even if there are disagreements over this matter. Israel`s stance on this issue is known."(6) Israeli and many American Jewish leaders see the matter as going to the very core of the Jewish state`s mission, which is to "redeem" the land of historic Israel on behalf of the Jewish people. Ben-Gurion was happy and sad when the U.N. voted to partition Palestine into two states, Palestinian and Jewish. He was happy because "finally" Jews could have a "country" of their own. On the other hand, he was sad because they have "lost" almost half of Palestine, and because they would have to contend with a sizable Palestinian minority, well over 45% of the total population. In the following few quotes, you will see how he also stated that a "Jewish state" cannot survive being 60% Jewish; implying that something aught to be done to remedy the so called "Arab demographic problem". He stated on November 30, 1947: "In my heart, there was joy mixed with sadness: joy that the nations at last acknowledged that we are a nation with a state, and sadness that we lost half of the country, Judea and Samaria, and , in addition, that we [would] have [in our state] 400,000 [Palestinian] Arabs." (Righteous Victims, p. 190)
http://wp.me/pDB7k-sa Furthermore your twaddle has no foundations "they want both states through the peace process their own state and Israels state overcome by millions of Arabs forced into it" The demographic threat is a MYTH -- simple maths, ever learned any? http://wp.me/pDB7k-jS The Palestinians have only ever asked for their rights. They are the same rights as every human. No more, no less. Israel on the other hand wants territory which is not Israeli.
If they wanted a state there it was with Arab armies securing it
Try as you might you can't have both PS Your references are meaningless opinions that suit your narrative,which you try to flog as facts
Try as you might you can't have both PS Your references are meaningless opinions that suit your narrative,which you try to flog as facts
So WHAT is different from today and a year ago? Nothing. So if the Terrorist threat from the West Bank today does not exist, what was the situation a year ago. The answer is the same as it was. The Terrorist Threat is no change from a year ago. Israel will never negotiate in good faith with the Palestinian people. I welcome refutation of the argument that there is absolutely NOTHING that the Palestinians might acceptable to Israel. Now, may we discuss what the world is going to do when it has to - despite decades of cowardice - finally save the Palestinians from Israel. or be responsible for the world abandoning the Palestinians from the fate which they must suffer.
but aside from your generally illogical conclusion on the article, your conclusion that Palestinian suffering is Israel's fault is also flawed. One of the reasons being, that had the Arabs accepted Israel in 1948, then Israel would have still been in 1948 borders, and there would have been no refugees. ofcourse Gaza would have been Egyt, and the West bank would have been Jordan. ... so the Pals would not have had Jerusalem as their capital anywise. (but that is a different story)
therefore with respect to what I wrote you before. Had the Arabs not started the war, then the Palestinians would not have had to pay the bill. you start a war and lose, you usually pay a heavy price (see Germany WW2). So please instead of crying about Palestenian suffering, rejoice that we ae are a step closer to peace. Israel just needs a new government....
in control of Palestinian territories ... It's your Hasbara that has the holes... http://wp.me/pDB7k-jA
In a letter to The Irish Times, Benny Morris sets the record straight: ISRAEL-HATERS are fond of citing my work in support of their arguments. Let me offer some corrections. In defiance of the will of the international community, as embodied in the UN General Assembly resolution of November 29, 1947, (Palestinian Arabs) launched hostilities against the Jewish community in Palestine in the hope of aborting the emergence of the Jewish state and perhaps destroying that community. But they lost; and one of the results was the displacement of 700,000 of them from their homes. Most of Palestine's 700,000 "refugees" fled their homes because of the flail of war (and in the expectation that they would shortly return to their homes on the backs of victorious Arab invaders). There was no Zionist "plan" or blanket policy of evicting the Arab population, or of "ethnic cleansing". Plan Dalet of March 10, 1948, was the master plan of the Haganah - the Jewish military force that became the Israel Defence Forces - to counter the expected pan-Arab assault on the emergent Jewish state. And the invasion of the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq duly occurred, on May 15. It is true that Plan D gave the regional commanders carte blanche to occupy and garrison or expel and destroy the Arab villages along and behind the front lines and the anticipated Arab armies' invasion routes. And it is also true that midway in the 1948 war the Israeli leaders decided to bar the return of the "refugees" (those "refugees" who had just assaulted the Jewish community), viewing them as a potential fifth column and threat to the Jewish state's existence. I for one cannot fault their fears or logic.
Fact is, there aren't any. I haven't read any Morris. My information comes from UN/UNSC documentation.
You might try some maths while you're at it instead of plying your bullsh*te. No Palestine refugee from '48 is under 62. The life expectancy was about 64 in 1948. In 5 years there will be NONE. The Palestinians have NEVER asked for RoR for all lineal descendants. Their claim is based on UNGA Res 194, being a UN document, RoR is as defined by the UN (UNHCR) NO lineal descendants. The only danger is to the territories Israel ILLEGALLY claims. Most of the refugees from within Israel's ACTUAL sovereignty are DEAD or on the verge of dying within the next five years. NONE are within the age of rampant procreation. BTW the country of return has the RIGHT to reject folk who do not fulfill the criteria on an INDIVIDUAL basis. It is an INDIVIDUAL right. The Demographic threat is a fallacy, always has been a fallacy in order to prevent ANY RoR. I.e., ethnic cleansing.
Amazing work by the IDF and intelligence services. Israel leads the world in rooting out terrorism, even when it takes the form of perpetrators hiding in within civilian areas. Not only has "the wall," special ops missions, intelligence, etc. have many Israeli lives been saved, but countless Palestinian lives have been spared by counterattacks. Lets get al queda too!
Crow about the war on terror being over if you want and are so naive to do so, but the real war, I fear, is fast approaching. As soon as Pal-Arabs declare statehood and try to split Jerusalem, the stuff will really hit the fan and from all sides!
PA's mission is complete, would be Palestinians ressistants killed or in prison> Gen. Dayton and his succesor succeeded in taming the spirit of liberating the Holy Land and forcing Israel and its backers to admit guilt and concede self-determination and lasting peace. Yes, PA band has done what Israel would never be able to accomplish and that for few Euros and dollars paid by Europe and rich Arab states. Next target owuld be to enforce the blockade and press Hamas to collapse. Egypt plays l;eading role in this. It is the decline of Arabs and Islam from within by Arabs and Palestinians. Human degradadtion has no limit, and here is a blatant example.
That's why things changed for the better immediately from mid-April 2002 when we finally went on the offensive against the PLO terrorists. From Haaretz, July 3, 2008: During the past five years the security forces, primarily the Shin Bet, have had impressive success. The number of Israelis killed as a result of Palestinian terrorism dropped from 426 in 2002 to only 13 last year. Whoever argues that it is not possible to win decisively in the asymmetric warfare against terrorism, will have to agree that in the West Bank Israel has achieved this to the maximum degree possible. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=998413
I agree, it is possible to keep the security situation under control, at least for a few years - but that is not winning. Winning would be security and a just peace - you have now got the first part, now go and get the second.
being sought in the former territory of Samaria????
PALESTINIAN.
There is no such thing as 'palestine'. That was just a Roman place-name they invented for the true name of the region which was 'Phillistia'. It's also a well know fact that all the phillistines were killed off by the assyrians who took over the region some 600 years before the Romans even arrived on the sceen. It's all Israel and it's all for the Jews.
I dare you to read it. LOL
This is the kind of self-righteous ignorance Netanyahu depends on
soon there will be myriads khabibi.
I suspect the Defense Ministry (Barak) is trying to "force" Netanyahu to admit to the US that there is actually great progress in Palestinian co-operation, especially on Security, that as to leave no excuse for his "interim agreement" idea. Well done, Barak, for a change.
www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/140444 - Cached PA
If the Palestinians say that Netanyahu does not want peace, this is truth telling, not an incitement. I have two pieces of advice for you: 1. If you read propaganda news (like Arutz Sheva - settlers, which you cite), don't tell anybody. 2. Think about what you read. For example: Why would incitement sharply increase nowadays? Likely because it is not incitement but explaining to their people what is going on.
As they say in the classics put up or-- Haaretz the bilble of the intelligentsia has lost its credibility more than once in the courts.
how can anyone believe a war criminal. Unless you are a supporter and apologist for war crimes???. Et tu psm.
Is kelowna & or Peachland northern or southern westbank????DK
PA Incitement against Israel On the Rise - Defense/Middle East ... 3 Nov 2010 ... The cabinet gets bad news – PA incitement against Israel has risen sharply. www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/140444 - Cached PA Incitement Targets Israeli-Arab Children - Defense/Middle East ... The Palestinian Authority, which is committed to halt incitement against ... www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/136356 - Cached Shocker: Abbas lies to Obama, denies PA incitement against Israel ... 10 Jun 2010 ... War Is Deceit Update: "Abbas not truthful to Obama; denies PA incitement," by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik for Palestinian Media ... www.jihadwatch.org/.../shocker-abbas-lies-to-obama-denies-pa-incitement-against-israel.html - Cached ISRAELI FRONTLINE: PA Incitement against Israel On the Rise 4 Nov 2010 ... PA leaders have not only allowed incitement to continue in mosques and on television, but have actively incited against Israel themselves, ... israelifrontline.blogspot.com/.../pa-incitement-against-israel-on-rise.html - Cached
how about Rabbis calling for the use of Palestinians as human shielsd or denying them the right to rent---or----all goyim are here to serve jews, Want the links---they are credible and work. just google this little gem. The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews, according to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the head of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and a senior Sephardi adjudicator. “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” he said in his weekly Saturday night sermon on the laws regarding the actions non-Jews are permitted to perform on Shabbat. According to Yosef, the lives of non-Jews in Israel are safeguarded by divinity, to prevent losses to Jews. “In Israel, death has no dominion over them... With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money. This is his servant... That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew,” Yosef said. “Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why gentiles were created,” he added. "The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews, according to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the head of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and a senior Sephardi adjudicator. “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” he said in his weekly Saturday night sermon on the laws regarding the actions non-Jews are permitted to perform on Shabbat. According to Yosef, the lives of non-Jews in Israel are safeguarded by divinity, to prevent losses to Jews. “In Israel, death has no dominion over them... With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money. This is his servant... That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew,” Yosef said. “Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why gentiles were created,” he added.
said it needed from the Palestinian leadership, then the excuse became "you need to recognize us as a 'Jewish State'." Netanyahu acts like Arafat is still in charge, as if nothing has changed, and this is a lie.
...is all Arab inhabitants to swear loyalty to Israel....learn to play hatikva on the violin and wear targets to assist settlers in aiming their rifles ..... and then maybe Israel will entertain peace and some sort of Pal state. Then again I'm sure those creative minds in Israels right can find more demands to make of these nasty potential terrorist Arabs that really want to 'push them into the sea' by actually doing nothing much at all, other than subsisting!
Richard Kemp.
no terrorists means no more need for the wall
Thanks Dan! Don't forget the road blocks and fences while you're at it. Imagine not a single security suspect on the IDF list. The war on terror is over thanks to Abbas and Fayyed!
@fred you mean thanks to the gallant efforts of the IDF, if u had read the article, efforts of the PA only started in 2007
so come again?
We need to see if the situation remains as such over time. Obviously, you don't care about Jews risking their lives for your political agenda, which is why we accommodate your opinions.
Israel was declared on behalf of EVERY Jew on the planet. It was granted enough territory (COMPLETELY GRATIS) for EVERY Jew on the planet today. Instead of being grateful, Israel has been usurping the Palestinians for 62 years, ILLEGALLY, attempting to achieve a Greater Israel. I'd like my homeland state to abide by the laws it said it would. No more, no less. BTW Private, Institutional and Corporate owned 'real estate' is not 'territory' Israel paid NO THING for it's territory. Now it charges illegal settlers for illegally built apartments.