Intifada (Arabic for uprising) is the term used to describe two periods of unrest and violence between Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, initially in the late 1980s and then again at the turn of the new millennium.
The First Intifada, which began in 1987, was a protest by Palestinians against Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in place since the Six-Day War of 1967. Triggered by a road accident in which four Palestinians were killed, the First Intifada led to widespread Palestinian protests, riots, and stone-throwing against Israeli military targets. The uprising quickly spread across the Palestinian territories and was promoted and supported by Yasser Arafat and the PLO from their headquarters in exile. Israeli troops responded to the Intifada with a military crackdown in attempts to quell the uprising. The Intifada also resulted in the stagnation and virtual destruction of the fledgling Palestinian economy and only came to an end with the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO.
The Oslo Accords paved the way for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; but a Second Intifada broke out following years of stalled peace negotiations, intermittent terror attacks against Israeli civilians and a failure to reach a final deal during the Camp David summit between Yasser Arafat, Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton in July 2000. Many also cite then Likud chief and opposition leader Ariel Sharon's September 2000 visit to the Temple Mount as a key factor in the outbreak of the violence. The visit was perceived as a deliberately inflammatory act, aimed at reinforcing Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount, a site in the Old City of Jerusalem sacred to both Jews and Muslims.
The second uprising, known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, saw the increasing use of suicide bombers by Palestinian terror groups against Israeli civilians. The particularly bloody campaign of terror attacks against Israeli civilians in 2002, culminating in the attack at the Park Hotel on the first night of Passover, led to the Israel Defense Forces’ campaign Operation Defensive Shield, which sought to stamp out the terror groups responsible for the attacks.
The Intifada resulted in tremendous loss of life on both sides, and a widening rift between Israel and the Palestinians. The violence gradually abated down after years of bloodshed, but the two sides, scarred and mistrustful, have yet to return to the negotiating table on a permanent basis.
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Hamas believes that what worked for police chief Khalfan in Dubai can work here, in an era when information flows online at a much faster speed ■ The goal is transparent: to extract information from the Israeli public
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In advance of the Marches for the Palestinian Right of Return, messages are being sent that indicate the transition from a belligerent nationalist and religious approach to a civilian one
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Palestinians didn't live up to the expectations when their leadership called for intifada following Trump's Jerusalem decision. Disappointed? Israeli media was
Amos Yadlin says Trump's speech will help make the Palestinians compromise – a notion out of the playbook of December 1987
Unlike the previous outbreaks in 1987 and 2000, the key elements needed to spark another Palestinian uprising do not seem to be in place
The call follows Trump's recognition on Wednesday of Jerusalem as Israel's capital
Despite Palestinian despair as deep as before the first intifada, there won't be a popular uprising or widespread officially-sanctioned violence. It's not in the interests of the PA or Hamas - and they've bought the obedience of the activists who would have led the charge
Fears are increasing that relations with the Palestinians will spiral out of control once again, as happened in July during the latest Temple Mount crisis
The severe downturn in the market was evidenced this month in the absence of the housing fairs aimed at foreign buyers that typically occur in August
The stumbling Palestinian economy is exacerbating religious sensitivity. The outcome could be disastrous
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Actual number of missing bodies is almost certainly much higher, as only two of 123 bodies requested by Palestinian family members located
The ministers didn't show up to the funerals of the four officers killed in Jerusalem because they were afraid of criticism.
Yoni Bleichbard tells a military court that the soldier was right to kill the Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli soldier in the West Bank settlement.
The PA security forces are dissuading youths from taking part in violence and have gone back to arresting Hamas people. Israel’s efforts are helping too.
During Israel's second intifada, Sitruk advised French Jewish men to wear hats instead of skullcaps so as not to alert potential harassers.
A 1985 document from an Israeli think tank sounded a stark warning about the economic and demographic time bomb that was ticking in the Gaza Strip — if anyone wanted to hear it.
A lawyer for the family of Abdul-Malak Saleh Abu Kharoub says he hopes the Israelis will release four more bodies.
A lower court denied Bilal Kayed's request to uncuff him from his hospital bed and see a doctor of his choice.
Thirteen are arrested; Bilal Kayed is still being held after completing a 14-year sentence for offenses during the second intifada.
In the 10-month terror wave, the Justice Ministry unit for investigating the police often does not even question the officers involved, let alone open a probe.
Prison authority says Bilal Kayed is being handcuffed to his bed to block an attempt to free him.
But the executions – there’s no other way to describe them – of girls and boys, women and men, keep coming.
Nearly a decade and a half after he began serving multiple life sentences for his role in the killings of the second intifada, Marwan Barghouti is still seen – among most Palestinians, many Israelis and world leaders – as the man who could lead his people to independence. Through a mediator, Barghouti tells Haaretz that he remains a staunch proponent of the two-state solution and that he intends to run for Palestinian president should elections be held.
West Bank troop deployments, arrests and roadblocks are like throwing a blanket over a fire. The question is whether the situation will continue after the drive-by shooters are apprehended.