By DPA

The number of attacks in Israel coming from the Palestinian territories declined significantly in 2009 over previous years, the Shin Bet security services said Sunday.

According to the Shin Bet's 2009 annual summary, this was the first year in which no suicide attacks were executed in Israel.

The number of casualties in battles and rocket attacks also declined, according to the summary. Most occurred during Israel's Cast Lead military operation in the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009.

Israel registered 15 casualties in 2009 - 9 of them during the Gaza operation - as opposed to 36 in 2008. The Shin Bet said 234 injuries occurred, of which 185 were during Cast Lead, as opposed to 679 in 2008.

Rockets launched against Israel declined to 566 in 2009 from 2,048 in 2008. Of these, 406 were launched during the military operation.


The number of suicide attacks has been low in recent years compared to the 53 committed in 2002 and 35 in 2001.

According to the ISA, the militant Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is now focusing on rebuilding its military power and improving the network of smuggling tunnels.