On December 24, 2008, the Israeli cabinet led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorized the IDF plan to attack the Gaza Strip and to change the security reality in the south of Israel in order to improve the lives of the local population. Three days later, the army embarked on Operation Cast Lead. The operation began with an air strike on Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip. In two waves of attack involving more than 80 aircraft, the IDF destroyed rocket depots, outposts, training bases, and government centers. This was the start...
Behind the scenes in the war underway between Hamas and Israel, there is a party playing a key role that aspires to be the big winner in the fighting – Iran. As in the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hizbollah, Iran is gaining precious time to promote the leading strategic goal of its policy in recent years: attaining nuclear weapons capability.
According to the US Congressional Commission headed by Senator Bob Graham, by 2013 it is likely that weapons of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world. In order to prevent or minimize this concrete danger, it is necessary for the global community to act with urgency and determination.
The murder spree in the streets of Mumbai prompted the question whether we are witnessing a new kind of terror that exceeds the level of murderousness of previous terrorist actions, or was this a matter of terror strategists adhering to basic operational principles in order to achieve a known spectrum of objectives.
A lively discussion has developed recently concerning the IDF’s new response policy in the event of a renewed confrontation with Hizbollah. An article in Haaretz by Amos Harel; an interview given by GOC Northern Command Gadi Eisenkot to Yediot Ahronot; the INSS Insight of early October by Gabriel Siboni; and a forthcoming piece in Strategic Assessment by Giora Eiland are among the recent forums for this debate.
The book includes ten analytical essays written by INSS researchers that dwell on Israel’s strategic environment in the period under review. The ongoing challenges represented by the Palestinian issue and the Iranian nuclear program are well documented, as well as developments elsewhere in the Arab and Muslim world and in Israel.
Until recently the anthrax envelopes attack in the United States in 2001 was considered the primary test case of biological threats. Although there were prior incidents in which biological substances were intentionally used for hostile purposes, the particular circumstances of this event as well as the timing – shortly after the terror attacks of September 11 – gave it special resonance.
The car bomb in Damascus that ended the life of Imad Mughniya also put an end to the world-wide manhunt lasting over two decades for the person responsible for the deaths of hundred of citizens of many countries. Following the disappearance from the scene of someone who was justifiably labeled an international terrorist, the question arises whether his liquidation marks a turning point in the war on international terrorism.
During the past year, al-Qaeda and the Taliban have apparently decided to shift the focus of their suicide actions to the Pakistan-Afghanistan theater. That does not mean that al-Qaeda and its affiliates have abandoned the use of suicide terror in other places, and they continue to carry out suicide attacks elsewhere, especially in Iraq and recently even in Algeria
Following the terrorist strikes that shook the United States on September 11, 2001, the phenomenon of suicide attacks became a topic of particular interest to terrorism analysts, psychologists, government officials, and much of the general public in various regions of the world. Special attention has turned to the use of women as suicide attackers, as it appears to be a broadening trend among Chechen and Palestinian groups.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is a secular separatist terrorist organization in Sri Lanka whose goal is the establishment of an independent state of Tamil Eelam. Often considered the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world, the LTTE has used lethal force indiscriminately, and has in fact killed more Tamils (including Tamil politicians and leaders and members of other militant groups) than Sinhalese or the military. The organization has a centralized command structure under the direction of the national leader,...
Chechnya’s notorious “Black Widows” have been active since June 7, 2000 when the first Chechen female suicide bombers, Khava Barayeva, cousin of well-known Chechen field commander Arbi Barayev, and Luisa Magomadova drove a truck filled with explosives into the temporary headquarters of an elite OMON (Russian Special Forces) detachment in the village of Alkhan Yurt in Chechnya. The attack resulted in two dead and five wounded. Since then Chechen female terrorists have been involved in twenty-two of the twenty-seven suicide attacks (81...
