Second Intifada
The Second Intifada (Arabic: الانتفاضة الثانية, romanized: Al-Intifāḍat aṯ-Ṯāniyya, lit. 'The Second Uprising'; Hebrew: האינתיפאדה השנייה Ha-Intifada ha-Shniya), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation, characterized by a period of heightened violence in the Palestinian territories and Israel between 2000 and 2005. The general triggers for the unrest are speculated to have been centered on the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit, which was expected to reach a final agreement on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process in July 2000. An uptick in violent incidents started in September 2000, after Israeli politician Ariel Sharon made a provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa compound, which is situated atop the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem; the visit itself was peaceful, but, as anticipated, sparked protests and riots that Israeli police put down with rubber bullets, live ammunition, and tear gas. Within the first few days of the uprising, the IDF had fired one million rounds of ammunition.
| Second Intifada | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |||||||||
Clockwise from top-left:
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Israel | Palestinian Authority | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
| |||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Israel Defense Forces Israel Police Shin Bet Mishmeret Yesha |
National Security Forces Fatah Hamas Islamic Jihad Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Popular Resistance Committees | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
29 September 2000 – 1 January 2005: ~1,010 Israelis total:• 644–773 Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians; • 215–301 Israeli troops killed by Palestinians |
29 September 2000 – 1 January 2005: 3,179–3,354 Palestinians total:• 2,739–3,168 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops;* • 152–406 Palestinians killed by Palestinians; • 34 Palestinians killed by Israeli civilians | ||||||||
|
55 foreign nationals/citizens total: • 45 foreigners killed by Palestinians; • 10 foreigners killed by Israeli troops | |||||||||
| *For the controversial issue of distinguishing Palestinian civilian/combatant casualties, see § Casualties. | |||||||||
High numbers of casualties were caused among civilians as well as combatants. Israeli security forces engaged in gunfights, targeted killings, tank attacks, and airstrikes; Palestinians engaged in gunfights, suicide bombings (the first of which occurred in March 2001), stone-throwing, and rocket attacks. The suicide bombings carried out by Palestinian assailants became one of the more prominent features of the Second Intifada and mainly targeted Israeli civilians, contrasting with the relatively less violent nature of the First Intifada, which took place between 1987 and 1993. During the first few weeks of the uprising, the ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed was around 20 to 1. With a combined casualty figure for combatants and civilians, the violence is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis, as well as 64 foreign nationals.
Many consider the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit of 2005 to have ended the uprising, as Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon agreed to take definitive steps to de-escalate the hostilities between the two sides: all Palestinian militant factions would stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and Israel would likewise cease all military activity against all Palestinians everywhere. They also reaffirmed their commitment to the "roadmap for peace" that had been proposed by the Quartet on the Middle East in 2003. Additionally, Sharon agreed to release 900 of the 7,500 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel at the time and further stated that Israeli troops would withdraw from those parts of the West Bank that they had re-occupied while fighting Palestinian militants during the uprising.