Wikipedia

Second Palestinian Uprising

2000–2005 Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation

The Second intifada was a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. The period of the Second Intifada is marked from September 2000[11] until February 2005,[12] even though opinions may differ about when it ended. An Intifada is an uprising or "the shaking of" against a power. The Second Intifada was more violent than the first.[11] The second Intifada is considered part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it was succeeded by the First (Palestinian) Intifada that lasted from 1987 until 1993.

Second Intifada
Part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Clockwise from top-left:
Date28 September 2000 – 8 February 2005
(4 years, 4 months, 1 week and 4 days)
Location
Result Uprising suppressed[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Territorial
changes		 Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip
Belligerents
 Israel  Palestine
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Israel Defense Forces
Israel Police Shin Bet
Mishmeret Yesha		 National Security Forces Fatah Hamas
 Palestinian 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[7][not in the source given][8] Israelis total:
• 644–773 Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians;
• 215–301 Israeli troops killed by Palestinians

29 September 2000 – 1 January 2005:

3,179[8][9][10]–3,354[7] 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[7]
*For the controversial issue of distinguishing Palestinian civilian/combatant casualties, see § Casualties.

Causes and the start

change

After the First Intifada ended in 1993, there was still a lot of discontent among the Palestinians. They disagreed with how the Oslo Accords were followed by Israel.[13] The Palestinians thought these accords would mean the end of the Israeli occupation, in reality this did not happen. When the Israeli premier Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, where, among other things, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is placed, it was the last straw for the Palestinians. This is why some people also call this uprising the 'Al-Aqsa Intifada'.[11] The cause of the Second Intifada was years of building tension between Israel and Palestine. A reason why it erupted so quickly was because the Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat suggested that it would improve the conditions for the Palestinians.[14]

The Second Intifada began with Palestinian demonstrations. These started in Jerusalem, but quickly spread to the West Bank. In the beginning, the Palestinians mostly threw rocks and were not obedient towards the Israelis; the Israelis were heavily armed. This caused more tension between the two parties, and this led to more violence: after one month, 141 Palestinians and 12 Israelis were killed.[15] Many incidents happening on both sides caused even more friction. An example of these incidents is Muhammad al-Durrah, the Palestinian boy who hid behind his father but eventually got shot and killed, all caught on camera.

Compared to the First Intifada, in the Second Intifada, the Palestinians used other, more deadly tactics. Some of them were suicide bombings, snipers, and rocket attacks.[16] These increased forms of violence began after the heavy resistance by Israeli forces in the beginning.

West Bank barrier

change

In 2002, during the Second Intifada, the Israeli government decided to build a barrier between Israel and the West Bank. This was to protect the Israeli citizens from Palestinian suicide attacks,[17] which occurred often in this period.

Withdraw from Gaza

change

Another important event during the Second Intifada was the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. This happened after things escalated between Hamas and the Israeli occupiers, which resulted in many deaths on both sides. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saw the dangers of the occupation and wanted to disengage.[18] This would be the safest option for Israel. His first announcement of disengaging was in 2003. The disengagement only started in 2005.[19] Israel withdrew its settlements and settlers from Gaza. Ever since, the Gaza Strip has been blocked by Israel. This restricts the movement of goods and people and causes a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.[20]

The ending and aftermath

change

In 2005, after more than 5 years, the Second Intifada ended. In 2004, the intensity of the uprising was already fading. This was because the Palestinians became weary, struggling against the strong, lasting Israeli defense.[21]

The Second Intifada was more violent than the first one, causing over 3000 Palestinian and nearly 1000 Israeli deaths.[22]

References

change
  1. ↑ Amos Harel; Avi Issacharoff (1 October 2010). "Years of Rage". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Laura King (28 September 2004). "Losing faith in the intifada". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Jackson Diehl (27 September 2004). "From Jenin to Falluja". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Zeev Chafetz (22 July 2004). "The Intifadeh is over – just listen". World Jewish Review. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Major-General (res) Yaakov Amidror (23 August 2010). "Winning the counterinsurgency war: The Israeli experience". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  6. ↑ Hillel Frisch (12 January 2009). "The need for a decisive Israeli victory over Hamas" (PDF). Begin–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "B'Tselem – Statistics – Fatalities". B'Tselem. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Breakdown of Fatalities: 27 September 2000 through 1 January 2005". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Full report: Don Radlauer (29 September 2002). "An Engineered Tragedy: Statistical Analysis of Casualties in the Palestinian – Israeli Conflict, September 2000 – September 2002". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.. Also at Don Radlauer. "An Engineered Tragedy: Statistical Analysis of Casualties in the Palestinian – Israeli Conflict, September 2000 – September 2002". EretzYisroel.Org. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Intifada toll 2000–2005". BBC News. 8 February 2005. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Field Update on Gaza from the Humanitarian Coordinator" (PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "intifada | History, Meaning, Cause, & Significance | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  12. ↑ Tucker, Spencer C.; Mary Rogers, Priscilla (2019). Middle East conflicts from Ancient Egypt to the 21st century : an encyclopedia and document collection | WorldCat.org (4 v. (xxxviii-1818 p.) : illustrations, cartes. ; 29 cm ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4408-5352-4. OCLC 1155694634.
  13. ↑ Redactie, Auteur. "Intifada - Opstand van de Palestijnen". Historiek (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  14. ↑ Pressman, Jeremy (2003). "The Second Intifada: Background and Causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Journal of Conflict Studies. 23 (2). ISSN 1715-5673. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  15. ↑ Catignani, Sergio (2008). Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas: Dilemmas of a Conventional Army. Routledge. pp. 104–106. ISBN 9781134079971.
  16. ↑ Beauchamp, Zack (2018-11-20). "What were the intifadas?". Vox. Archived from the original on 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  17. ↑ "Impact of Israel's separation barrier on affected West Bank communities - OCHA April 2004 update report". Question of Palestine. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  18. ↑ "Why is Israel pulling out settlers from Gaza, West Bank? - Israel". ReliefWeb. 15 August 2005. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  19. ↑ "Israel - The second intifada | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  20. ↑ "Suffocating Gaza - the Israeli blockade's effects on Palestinians". Amnesty International. 2010-06-01. Archived from the original on 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  21. ↑ "The Second Intifada 2000". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  22. ↑ "Just Vision". justvision.org. Archived from the original on 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Palestinian_Uprising&oldid=9779452"