Pipe bomb
Pipe bombiStock

A pipe bomb was thrown at IDF soldiers near the village of Ya'bad in northern Samaria Wednesday evening, the IDF Spokesperson's Office said.

The soldiers responded by opening fire on the attacker.

The suspect fled the scene.

According to data published by the defense establishment on Monday, the number of rock throwing incidents in the region dropped by more than half, from 5082 in 2017 to 2057 in 2018.

The number of firebomb attacks increased from 848 to 893. The number of shooting attacks stood at 33, one fewer than last year, and the number of weapons seized fell from 475 to 406.

At the same time, there has been a significant increase in the number of stabbing attacks - from 5 in 2017 to 17 in 2018. More than two million shekels in money earmarked for terrorism were seized during the year.

The number of terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria has decreased gradually in recent years. If in 2015 there were 219 terrorist attacks in the region, their number fell in 2016 to 169, in 2017 to 97, and in the past year to 87.

However, this decline is still accompanied by an increase in the number of soldiers and civilians injured as a result of terrorism. The number of fatalities in terror attacks dropped from 20 in 2017 to 16 in 2018, including nine civilian deaths and seven deaths among the security forces.