Suicide bombings have decreased since the construction of the barrier.
[7][45] Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades,
Hamas, and the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been less able to conduct attacks in Israel, which have decreased in areas where the barrier has been completed.
[46][47]
The Israeli
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Israel Security Agency report that in 2002, there were 452 fatalities from terrorist attacks. Before the completion of the first continuous segment (July 2003) from the beginning of the Second Intifada, 73
Palestinian suicide bombings were carried out from the West Bank,
killing 293 Israelis and injuring over 1,900. After the completion of the first continuous segment through the end of 2006, there were only 12 attacks based in the West Bank, killing 64 people and wounding 445.
[6] Terrorist attacks declined in 2007
[6] and 2008
[48] to 9 in 2010.
[49]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs predicts that completion of the barrier will continue to prevent terrorist attacks
[50] since "[a]n absolute halt in terrorist activities has been noticed in the West Bank areas where the fence has been constructed."
[46]
Israeli officials (including the head of the
Shin Bet) quoted in the newspaper
Maariv have said
that in the areas where the barrier was complete, the number of hostile infiltrations has decreased to almost zero.
Maariv also stated that Palestinian militants, including a senior member of
Islamic Jihad, had confirmed that the barrier made it much harder to conduct attacks inside Israel. Since the completion of the fence in the area of
Tulkarm and
Qalqilyah in June 2003, there have been no successful attacks from those areas. All attacks were intercepted or the suicide bombers detonated prematurely.
[51] In a March 23, 2008 interview, Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader
Ramadan Shalah complained to the
Qatari newspaper
Al-Sharq that the separation barrier "limits the ability of the resistance to arrive deep within [Israeli territory] to carry out suicide bombing attacks, but the resistance has not surrendered or become helpless, and is looking for other ways to cope with the requirements of every stage" of the intifada.
[52]