Analysis: West Bank unrest may not be an intifada, but it poses a serious threat nonetheless
In the last week, there were 11 terrorist attacks or attempted attacks in the West Bank.
Three of them were carried out using firearms, claiming the lives of two Israelis and wounding others.
The situation could have been much worse, but the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has managed over the last year to foil more than 100 planned attacks by Hamas.
The Shin Bet announced on Wednesday that it had exposed a new Hamas network in the Nablus area and arrested 40 suspects. Masterminding the network was Salah Aruri, a top Hamas operative who was released from an Israeli prison a few years ago and now resides in Turkey. Aruri is in charge of reinstating Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank, a year after Israeli security forces quashed it prior to the war in Gaza.
In recent months, Israeli officials approached Turkey and, despite the bitter relations between the two countries, asked Ankara to crack down on Hamas operatives there. Before recent events, Israeli sources hinted that Turkey was accommodating, but now it seems that nothing has changed.