“The Upcoming Period Will Be Even More Tense”

02 September 2010 , 19:16

Tuesday’s deadly shooting terror attack is the most serious event that happened over the last eight years in the Judea and Samaria region

Dan Tamir

“The likelihood of an attack during this period is high. We knew that there would be an attack, but there was no concrete warning”, a senior IDF officer explained a day after the lethal shooting attack which occurred at the Bnei Naim junction, during which four Israeli civilians were killed. “The terrorist cell that executed the attack is extremely professional, operating at a level higher than that of the cell which executed the shooting attack during which Policeman Shuki Sofer was killed this past June”.

In the light of current events including the beginnings of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the scheduled end of the construction freeze and the beginning of the school year, the alert level was raised in the Judea Territorial Brigade in recent weeks. The region’s officers and soldiers were even prepared for the possibility that hostile operatives would try to execute serious terror attacks. “Such a grave attack, which resulted in the death of four people, has not been seen in the region over the past eight years”, an official explained.

“Even with a very high level of preparedness, there is no 100% guarantee of thwarting such an attack. After all, the enemy is the one who chooses the time and place of the attack. Terrorism in Hebron is not seen above the surface, and therefore Hamas, which has many supporters in Hebron, is becoming organized underground, with sleeper cells.”

IDF’s Central Command is preparing for the consequences of the terrorist act. “It may encourage more terrorist cells to execute attacks, given the success of the terrorists during the last events”, the senior official said a short while after receiving reports about the shooting attack at the Rimonim junction, during which a couple traveling near Kochav Hashachar was injured when Palestinian terrorists opened fired on them from a passing vehicle.

In addition, the Central Command estimates that the attacks are expected to spark reactions from Israel as well. “Israeli citizens can also execute acts of violence against the Palestinian population. These two things could break the relative quiet in the region and there is no doubt that the upcoming period will be even more tense”.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/09/0203.htm