The army reported this afternoon that it had bombed a car in Gaza City carrying four terrorists on their way to perpetrate a large attack against Israelis. The car was reportedly carrying a significant amount of explosives on its way to the intended attack site at the Karni Crossing between Gaza and Israel. Four passersby were wounded when the car was hit by the helicopter-launched rockets.
One of the killed terrorists, according to PA sources, was the general commander of Islamic Jihad's Gaza region Al Quds brigades.
It was announced earlier that terrorist attacks against Israel had dropped over the past year. The total number of terror-caused fatalities since the beginning of the year was 52 Israelis – nine of them members of the security forces, and the rest civilians. This is 30% less than the number murdered in attacks during the same period last year.
The number of wounded, 637, is almost a third lower than the number of those hurt during the same period last year – 917. Five suicide bombings were not prevented this year, as opposed to 14 in 2004.
"There are a number of reasons for the decline in the number of casualties in the last year," a senior IDF official said at a briefing for journalists. "The most critical of them is the pre-emptive targeted actions of the General Security Service and the IDF."
The official added that the death of Arafat had a major affect on the terror infrastructure as well. "In the security establishment," he said, "Arafat's death is viewed as being directly connected to the decline in the scope of terrorist activity."
Notably absent from the assessment was attribution of the drop in successful attacks to the separation fence, which was recently characterized by Justice Minister Tzippy Livni (Kadima) as defining Israel's future border.
The IDF officer said in the briefing that although attacks from PA Arabs have decreased, there has been a sharp increase in attacks along the northern border. The number of attacks along the Lebanese border rose to 31, compared to 18 attacks last year.
One of the killed terrorists, according to PA sources, was the general commander of Islamic Jihad's Gaza region Al Quds brigades.
It was announced earlier that terrorist attacks against Israel had dropped over the past year. The total number of terror-caused fatalities since the beginning of the year was 52 Israelis – nine of them members of the security forces, and the rest civilians. This is 30% less than the number murdered in attacks during the same period last year.
The number of wounded, 637, is almost a third lower than the number of those hurt during the same period last year – 917. Five suicide bombings were not prevented this year, as opposed to 14 in 2004.
"There are a number of reasons for the decline in the number of casualties in the last year," a senior IDF official said at a briefing for journalists. "The most critical of them is the pre-emptive targeted actions of the General Security Service and the IDF."
The official added that the death of Arafat had a major affect on the terror infrastructure as well. "In the security establishment," he said, "Arafat's death is viewed as being directly connected to the decline in the scope of terrorist activity."
Notably absent from the assessment was attribution of the drop in successful attacks to the separation fence, which was recently characterized by Justice Minister Tzippy Livni (Kadima) as defining Israel's future border.
The IDF officer said in the briefing that although attacks from PA Arabs have decreased, there has been a sharp increase in attacks along the northern border. The number of attacks along the Lebanese border rose to 31, compared to 18 attacks last year.