That Hamas "truce"

The Arab media has been mentioning a number of times that Hamas now has a "truce" with Israel, since at least February 2005. For example, the WRMEA quotes the editor of Lebanon's Daily Star:

Describing Hamas as a grandchild of Sharon and Israel’s policies, Khouri reminded the audience that Hamas nevertheless has kept a year-long truce with Israel.

An American editorialist at Al-Jazeerah.info goes one better:

Israel has violated the truce that the so-called terrorist organization Hamas has upheld for 15 months..."

Even the mainstream media has picked up on this, led by the resident Palestinian apologist at Reuters, Nidal al-Mughrabi:

While it has largely abided by a year-old truce, the government defended a suicide bombing carried out by the Islamic Jihad militant group in Tel Aviv on April 17 that killed nine people...

So, has Hamas really been staying away from terror since February 2005?

It turns out that the US National Counterterrorism Center keeps a database of worldwide terror attacks over the past couple of years. And while Hamas seems to have "officially" kept relatively quiet since the elections, the database shows quite a few attacks that came way after the supposed "truce" (stats through the end of 2005):


04/10/2005 Gaza Strip Residence damaged in mortar attack by HAMAS in Nezer Hazzani, Gaza Strip

05/19/2005 Israel Israeli settlement and military post targeted in mortar attacks by HAMAS in Nahal Oz, HaDarom, Israel

05/19/2005 Gaza Strip Checkpoint point targeted in rocket and mortar attacks by HAMAS in Bayt Hanun, Gaza Strip 05/19/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement damaged in mortar attacks by HAMAS in Morag, Gaza Strip

05/19/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Morag, Gaza Strip

05/19/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attacks by HAMAS in Atzmona, Gaza Strip

05/19/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in rocket attack by HAMAS in Nisanit, Gaza Strip

06/18/2005 Israel Israeli community damaged in rocket attacks by HAMAS in Sederot, HaDarom, Israel

07/16/2005 Israel 7 children, 9 civilians injured in rocket attacks by HAMAS in Sederot, HaDarom, Israel

07/16/2005 Israel Israeli settlement targeted in rocket attack by HAMAS in Nahal Oz, Gaza Strip

06/29/2005 Gaza Strip 1 civilian wounded in rocket attack targeting Israeli settlement by HAMAS in Gadid, Gaza Strip

06/29/2005 Gaza Strip 1 civilian wounded, 1 residence, Israeli settlement damaged in rocket attack by HAMAS in Newe Deqalim, Gaza Strip

07/14/2005 Gaza Strip 2 police officers wounded in armed attack by suspected HAMAS in Gaza, Gaza Strip

07/15/2005 Gaza Strip 1 child, 1 civilian wounded in mortar attack on Israeli settlement by HAMAS in Newe Deqalim,

07/15/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement damaged in rocket and mortar attack by HAMAS in Nezer Hazzani, Gaza Strip

07/15/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in rocket attacks by suspected HAMAS in Atzmona, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Gaza Strip 20 civilians, 7 children wounded in mortar attack on Israeli settlement by HAMAS in Nisanit, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Gaza Strip Crossing Point targeted in rocket attack by HAMAS at Sufa Crossing, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Gaza Strip Crossing point targeted in rocket and mortar attack by HAMAS at the Erez Crossing Point, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar and rocket attacks by HAMAS in Nezarim, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Kfar Darom, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in rocket attack by HAMAS in Newe Deqalim, Gaza Strip

07/16/2005 Israel 7 children, 9 civilians injured in rocket attacks by HAMAS in Sederot, HaDarom, Israel

07/16/2005 Israel Israeli settlement targeted in rocket attack by HAMAS in Nahal Oz, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Several civilians wounded in armed attack by HAMAS in Kfar Darom, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Several civilians wounded in mortar and rocket attacks by HAMAS on Nezarim, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar and rocket attacks by HAMAS in Newe Deqalim, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Atzmona, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Gadid, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Nisanit, Gaza Strip

07/17/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in rocket attack by HAMAS in Dugit, Gaza Strip

07/19/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Atzmona, Gaza Strip

07/19/2005 Gaza Strip Israeli settlement targeted in mortar attack by HAMAS in Morag, Gaza Strip

09/21/2005 West Bank 1 civilian kidnapped and killed by HAMAS in Jerusalem, West Bank

09/24/2005 Israel 11 civilians wounded in rocket attack by HAMAS on Sederot, HaDarom, Israel

There are also literally dozens of rocket attacks that no group claimed responsibility for. And, of course, the fact that so many historical terror attacks have been claimed jointly by supposedly "competing" Palestinian Arab terror groups makes it pretty clear that Hamas is still involved in terror attacks even if they are no longer taking credit.

But even the official statistics show that those who claim that Hamas has been quiet for over a year are purposefully misstating the facts.

UPDATE: Keren Malki's list of terror attacks includes a failed Hamas attack from December:
2005-12-19

Intercepted: Israeli security personnel catch 2 armed Palestinian Arab men near the neighborhood of Har Homa, en route to doing a terror attack in Jerusalem. They have two firebombs, two knives, a Hamas flag and material for two pipe bombs. This is so insignificant that it goes unreported except for some Israelis newspapers.