Israeli forces responded this week to the ongoing increase in Palestinian terror attempts in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. As of this writing, security forces have arrested 66 people in Judea and Samaria, in addition to seizing weapons, ammunition, money and more related equipment.

In Jerusalem, Border Police forces conducted a series of mid-week operations in the Arab neighborhoods of Issawiya and Shuafat refugee camp, arresting 23 for a variety of charges including involvement in terrorism, rioting, illegal possession of weapons, drug abuse and property offenses. Police also discovered and seized illegal weapons including a Glock pistol, magazines, clubs and ammunition.

Thursday, Palestinians in Nablus attacked Israel Police and Border Police forces with rocks and firebombs as the latter secured a visit by some 700 Israeli worshippers to the Joseph’s Tomb compound. No injuries or property damage were reported.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit denied the arrests were a preventative measure to ramp down a wave of Palestinian attacks ahead of the Rosh Hashana holiday on October 3-4. “The  spike in arrest numbers does not represent an increase compared to the past and are not related to the upcoming holidays,” the army said.

Police spokespeople said that while there are ongoing operations to fight crime and terrorism, security officials are also preparing for the upcoming holiday period. They confirmed a TPS  report from last Sunday noting that each holiday period of September-October in recent years has seen an increase in violence, and added that “the number of arrests is determined according to evaluations of the situation, relevant intelligence and the amount of targets in the field.”

“We take it as a given now that we always experience a sharp rise in Palestinian violence when the Jewish High Holidays take place around September and October. It is not a new phenomenon, rather it has been the same for many years. As soon as Rosh Hashana [the Jewish New Year] looms, the levels of Palestinian violence against Jews begins to rise,” former Shin Bet Section Chief Menachem Landau told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) on Sunday.