JERUSALEM – The past few weeks have seen the highest levels of Palestinian violence, including attempted suicide attacks, since the signing in February of a cease-fire agreement between Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, WND has learned.

According to an analysis provided by Israel's Center for Special Studies, "throughout the course of the second half of May, there has been an additional increase in the number of terrorist attacks in various forms, marking the highest level reached since the [cease-fire.] The terrorist attacks have been targeted against civilians and IDF soldiers alike. However, there has been a decrease in the number of casualties."

In the last 14 days alone, there were over 60 mortar and Qassam rocket attacks and one attempted terrorist infiltration against Jewish communities in Gaza, the area's security chief, Ami Shaked told WND.

Also, in the past three weeks, 26 Molotov cocktails were thrown at Israeli citizens, and there were four attempts by Palestinian terrorists to smuggle explosive belts and charges past West Bank checkpoints. Two of these attempts were carried out by 14- to 15-year-old teenagers who planned to commit suicide attacks against Israelis, marking the 16th time the past two months a Palestinian teenager had attempted to detonate a bomb or smuggle arms and explosives through a military checkpoint.

Security sources also report the continued smuggling of heavy weaponry from Egypt into Gaza's Rafah region.

Since February, there have been approximately 30 incidents of Palestinian smuggling from Egypt's Sinai region, with weapons transported including approximately 1,000 rifles, dozens of RPG launchers, about 150 handguns, five anti-aircraft shoulder missiles and tens of thousands of bullets.

The weapons are being smuggled with the help of Hamas and Palestinian forces on the Israeli side, said Reuven Erlich, director of the Center for Special Studies.

The continued violence follows a cease-fire agreement announced in Egypt Feb. 8 by Sharon and Abbas.

The Palestinian leader recently told the American media there would be no more suicide attacks. Abbas, on a trip late last month to Washington, granted an interview with ABC's "This Week" in which he was asked whether the era of suicide bombing was over.

"I believe it is over," replied Abbas. "We have started to deal with the culture of violence. We stopped the culture of violence, and the Palestinian people have started looking at it as something that should be condemned and it should stop."
 
Worldnetdaily.com