Recording Terror Incidents in the Israel, Gaza, and West Bank Region

Following Saturday’s cross-border attacks by Hamas from Gaza into Israeli territory—unprecedented in scope, from a designated terror group assaulting Israel—GTTAC conducted a deeper review of our data. At GTTAC we have been recording a significant increase in terrorist attacks in the Israel, Gaza, and West Bank region during the first eight months of 2023. A combination of an increased number of attacks not only from groups Hamas, such as the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB), and the emergence of relatively new Palestinian terror groups like the Lion’s Den (AAMB and the Lion’s Den are active primarily in the West Bank) seemed to indicate an increased risk of an attack.

Figure 1. Hamas Terror Incidents

*2023 data are not complete and are for through only early September.

We have created the figure above and those below directly from the most-recent GRID dataset (see our data at www.gttac.com), based on incomplete recording of incidents up to the first week of September for 2023 (that is, not including this most recent attack).

Figure 2 shows the number of incidents, number of persons killed, and number wounded in the same region over the past five-plus years. For the first eight months of 2023, we already find much-higher totals than in previous years.
Figure 3 shows the attacks of Hamas and PIJ from 2018 to August 2023—again a significant recent increase.
Figure 4 is the number of terrorist attacks by lone actors.
Figure 5 is al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB) incidents.
Figure 6 is AAMB casualties.

Figure 2. The Number of Terrorist Incidents and Casualties in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip From 2018 Through Early September 2023

*2023 data are not complete and are for through only early September

Figure 3. The Number of Terrorist Attacks by HAMAS and PIJ

*2023 data are not complete and are for through only early September.

Figure 4. The Number of Terrorist Attacks by Unaffiliated Lone-Actor Perpetrators

Figure 4 shows the number of terrorist attacks by individuals. GTTAC has created this category in GRID to track unaffiliated self-radicalized individuals, also called lone actors. This distinction is important, as HAMAS and PIJ are the most influential groups in the radicalization of these individuals. The first eight months of 2023 are roughly equal to the number for all 2022. This item is critical to tracking radicalization issues in the region.

*2023 data are not complete and are for through only early September.