May 14, 2004

Israel has resumed, and increased, its missile attacks on terror group leaders and technicians. Most of these men have kept a very low profile since two leaders of Hamas were killed recently. But the terror groups feel support slipping because they have not been able to respond to Israeli counter-terrorist operations. So the terrorist leaders are out and about, and that's when they are detected by the growing Israeli informer network. Opinion surveys in Palestinian areas indicate increasing unhappiness with the terrorist strategy of  attacking Israeli civilians, and subsequent Israeli measures to defend themselves. So it's become easier to recruit informants in Palestinian territory, and fewer Palestinians are turning in people they suspect of being informants.