Shots were fired at four Israeli vehicles in Route 465, in the Benjamin Regional Council, on Wednesday evening, January 14. Although no injuries or casualties were sustained, the shooting is an uncommon event that could signify the deterioration of the already fragile sense of security, for the residents of Israeli communities in the Benjamin Regional Council.
Tazpit News Agency spoke to Yechiel Kapach, the secretary of the Neve Tzuf (Halamish) community located in the Samaria hills.
“A terror attack that includes shooting is very rare, while stone-throwing terror attacks are much more common. They occur on a daily basis,” Kapach told Tazpit.
“The number of attacks depends on the general political situation in the country. When tension rises we see more terror attacks and when tension goes down we see less.”
Terror attacks include stone-throwing, shooting incidents, firework directed at people and cars as well as usage of Molotov cocktails. Tazpit News Agency reports that during December 2014 there were 27 stone-throwing incidents on the 465 route alone.
The 465 route is used by Israelis and Palestinians alike. It starts in the Benjamin Regional Council and crosses the green-line at the Rantis Checkpoint. Kapach told Tazpit News Agency that “the second you cross the Rantis Check point, it’s the wild wild west.”
“There is a real problem of sovereignty and enforcement of the Israeli law. We feel the lack of sovereignty in civil issues such as driving or illegal building for example, and it projects onto security issues,” he pointed out.
Kapach also added that Neve-Tzuf’s inhabitants felt so disappointed by the IDF’s inability to control security related incidents, that they started their own civil guard.
“I hope Israel can strengthen its sovereignty and enforce Israeli law so that real security will prevail.”