The terror wave that swept Israel over three months ago appears to be on a downward trend, new data released by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) on Thursday revealed. 

December 2015 marked the first month with a noted decrease in the number of terror attacks as compared to the previous month. 

According to the Shin Bet’s data, 246 attacks – 183 of them firebombings – were recorded in December, compared to 326 in November. 

The trend also appears to be regional, as reflected in the graph below: Judea-Samaria (red) was the target of 194 attacks in December, compared to 265 in November; Jerusalem and its environs (blue) was targeted in 43 attacks, compared to 52; and two attacks were conducted within the “Green Line” (green), compared to five the previous month. The total number of attacks monthly is recorded in grey.

The decrease in number of attacks is also reflected in lower numbers of casualties and injured victims. 

Three Israeli civilians were killed and 44 injured in December, compared to 10 murdered and 58 wounded in November. Those murdered last month were the victims of two stabbing attacks – in Jerusalem’s Old City on December 23 and in Hevron on December 7. 

Nearly half (21) of those injured in December were the victims of car-ramming attacks. An additional 16 were injured in stabbings, five were wounded in shooting attacks, and two more in physical assaults. 

Despite the decline in attacks, the Shin Bet noted there is a growing effort by Hamas to plan and carry out attacks in Israel, in order to harm the Palestinian Authority and keep the terror wave from fading. 

The Shin Bet stressed that it, the IDF, and police are continuing to make every effort to thwart attacks by arresting known terror operatives and monitoring Palestinian activity on social media.