3,600-Plus Palestinian Terror Attacks in First Half of 2023

The escalation in Palestinian terrorism that started over a year ago shows no signs of abating, data from Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) published on Tuesday, July 18, indicates.

In the first six months of 2023, the emergency service recorded 3,640 acts of terror throughout Israel, including 2,118 cases of rock-throwing, 799 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 18 attempted stabbings, and six car rammings. The number of shootings has already surpassed last year’s total, with 101 instances of gunfire directed at Israelis reported.

Hatzalah’s figures do not include the hundreds of attacks on security personnel during counterterrorism operations in Palestinian villages. Palestinian terrorists have killed 28 people and wounded 362 others since January, the organization said.

In addition, two Israelis died from wounds sustained in previous years. Shimon Maatuf died in February after suffering severe head wounds in an attack by two Palestinians armed with axes in 2022, and New York-born Chana Nachenberg died last month after a Palestinian suicide bombing put her in a coma 22 years ago.

Hatzalah released its biannual report on terrorism amid yet another uptick in Arab attacks throughout Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.

On Tuesday, July 18, security forces thwarted a possible terrorist attack at the Shuafat checkpoint in northeastern Jerusalem, arresting a 14-year-old Palestinian suspect who behaved suspiciously and had a knife in his possession. Two days earlier, an Israeli man was shot and seriously wounded, and his two daughters lightly injured, in a Palestinian drive-by shooting near the Tekoa Junction in Gush Etzion. (I365N / VFI News)

“God, we pray for the families of the victims that have been killed by Palestinian terrorists. We ask that You comfort them during this devastating period of mourning and that You protect Israel so that no more innocent civilians die or get injured from terrorist attacks.”