The number of intifada-related casualties and incidents has drastically declined since the implementation of Palestinian autonomy in Gaza and Jericho, according to the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service.
The information was reported Monday by the Shin Bet director at a meeting with the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who has frequently denied similar reports, was described as surprised to hear this, saying the figures presented did not tally with his information. According to the Shin Bet figures, eight Israelis have been killed in Israel and the territories between May through July so far. This was compared to 28 Israeli deaths in incidents related to the Palestinian uprising during the previous three months.
And 29 Israelis were wounded in intifada-related incidents in the last three months, compared to 121 in the previous three-month period.
The number of Palestinians killed in the intifada also dropped since the self-rule began, from 34 between February and April to 10 between May and the present. The number of violent incidents also dropped considerably, said the Shin Bet director, who is never identified.
Within the past three months, there were 60 violent incidents in Gaza, compared to 480 in the three months preceding that. Violent incidents inside the Green Line, the pre-1967 borders, also dropped, from 22 between February and April to six between May and the present.
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