BICOM

Israel’s security service has developed new tools and methods for detecting and identifying lone wolf terrorists.

Writing in Walla, Amir Bohbot says that the Shin Bet has reportedly developed sophisticated algorithms to search through social media posts and identify signs that someone is considering a lone terror attack or is at risk of it.

Shin Bet systems have been able to identify 1,200 Palestinians who were considered to be at a high risk of becoming lone-wolf terrorists. In some cases, they were minors and the security services called their parents to warn them about their children’s radicalisation. Based on a sample, the average age appears to be 20.

Since October, 112 Palestinians from the West Bank have carried out stabbing attacks, of which 63 were considered real “lone wolves” while 49 conducted their attacks with at least one other person. Most of the attackers come from the Hebron area in the southern West Bank, with relatively few from the north of the territory.

Israeli security services believe that heightened operations have helped slow the wave of terrorism, which has substantially declined from its peak a few months ago. Fifty five Hamas members in the West Bank have already been arrested this year, compared to 70 for the whole of 2015.

Traditionally, Israel has faced terrorism from organised groups with command-and-control structures. Today’s threats appear to be younger people who are radicalised online, and may not tell anyone before they decide to carry out attacks.

Since October 2015, Israel has faced a wave of apparently-uncoordinated terror stabbings, car attacks and shootings, usually carried out by Palestinians with no formal ties to any organised terror group. At least 40 people have been killed in these attacks.