IDF Lists 2012 Terror Incidents, Including Many “You’ve Probably Never Heard About”

Israeli children take cover under their desks in a classroom.

The IDF summarized the terrorism incidents in 2012 on its blog Tuesday. The list was not short.

Writes the blog: “In 2012 Israel suffered terror attacks on all fronts. Some made headline news around the world. Most of the others you’ve probably never heard about.”

Here are some of the incidents:

February 21: A joint IDF-Israel Police operation uncovered a powerful explosive device planted near Egypt. Two days later, IDF soldiers on a routine patrol identified suspicious activity on the border, where they discovered another large explosive device.

February 28: Suspected terrorists infiltrated Israel from Egypt. The suspects failed to heed IDF warnings to stop and fired on IDF soldiers. The IDF fired back, injuring one suspect, while the rest fled back across the border. A similar incident occurred on March 15.

March 9: The IAF targeted two members of the Popular Resistance Committee, a terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. The terrorists had been planning a combined terror attack that was to have taken place via Sinai.

June 18: Terrorists crossed the border from Egypt, killed an Israeli civilian and wounded two more. After infiltrating Israel, the terrorists detonated a roadside bomb, shot anti-tank rockets at two Israeli vehicles, and then opened fire on them with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

July 18: A suicide bomber exploded in a tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria. He killed five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver, and wounded another 32 Israelis. “We got on the bus. There were a lot of people on it… suddenly someone got on there, and something exploded,” said passenger Gal Malka. “We heard a boom. And we actually saw body parts. We tried to escape. The door was closed. But there was a hole in the side, through which me and my friend escaped.

American intelligence officials identified the bomber as a member of a local Hezbollah cell actively looking for Israeli targets.”

Then of course there were all of the rocket attacks, the frequency of which led to a confrontation with Hamas in November.

The IDF reported that 1,435 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel in 2012. “The rocket attacks began in 2001, and continued almost unabated since. In November, the IDF launched Operation “Pillar of Defense” to bring a halt to rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. Since then, a relative calm has been upheld, but 3.5 million Israelis still live under the threat of rocket fire from Gaza,” the blog writes.

And then there is the terrorism that Israelis are subjected to everyday.

“In 2012 in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), Israelis were shot at 15 times, got caught in 4,731 incidents of rock hurling, and were the targets of 642 firebombs.

“Rock-hurling and firebomb-throwing may seem less serious than shooting incidents — but they too have the potential to kill. In 2011, Asher Palmer and his infant son Yonatan were killed in a car crash due to rocks thrown at their vehicles.”