Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Second Intifada
The al-Aqsa Intifada
(Arabic: انتفاضة الاقصى) is the wave of violence and political conflict
that began in September 2000 between Palestinian Arabs and Israelis; it
is also called the Second Intifada. "Intifada" is an Arabic word for
"uprising" (literally translated as "shaking off"). Palestinians
consider the intifada to be a war of national liberation against foreign
occupation, whereas Israelis consider it to be a terrorist campaign.
The Israeli Defense Forces codenamed it " אירועי גיאות ושפל " ("Ebb and
Tide events"). In some right-wing Israeli circles, it is unofficially
referred to as the Oslo War.
The truce (Arabic: تهدئة Tahdi'a) declared at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit
of 2005 was considered by many to mark the end of the Intifada, despite
incidents of sporadic violence from both sides during the first months
of 2005. The lull in violence was attributed by many to the change in
Palestinian government following the death of Yasser Arafat and the
Israeli Disengagement Plan.
Prior events
By signing the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Palestinians and Israel,
the Palestine Liberation Organization committed to curbing violence in
exchange for phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Gaza
Strip and the West Bank, and Palestinian self-government within those
areas through the creation of the Palestinian Authority. However,
between September 1993 and September 2000, 256 Israeli civilians and
soldiers were killed by Palestinians. (Source: Israel's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs). The Israeli leadership called the fatalities the
"victims of peace". In 1995, Shimon Peres took the place of Yitzhak
Rabin, assassinated by an Israeli extremist opposed to the Oslo peace
agreement. In the 1996 elections, Israelis elected the conservative
Likud candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu, who promised to restore safety for
Israelis by conditioning every step in the peace process on Israel's
assessment of the Palestinian Authority's fulfillment of its obligations
in curbing violence as outlined in the Oslo agreement. In accordance
with the "Land for peace" principle, Netanyahu continued the policy of
construction within and expansion of existing Israeli settlements, and
during the 1990s, Israel's settler population in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip nearly doubled. Though construction within the settlements
was not explicitly prohibited in the Oslo agreement and the violence
increased after 1993, many Palestinians believed that the continuing
construction was contrary to the spirit of the Oslo agreement.
For the Palestinian side, the effects of Oslo were deeply disappointing.
Following the 1993 agreement and gradual Israeli withdrawal from major
cities until September 2000, 405 Palestinians were killed by Israeli
soldiers and settlers (Source: B'Tselem). The Palestinian economy
collapsed causing a 30% drop in the standard of living and a 50%
unemployment rate. Many Palestinians blamed this collapse on the
conditions imposed in Oslo, especially the rapidly increasing settler
population and the subsequent uncompensated land confiscation for the
enlargement of "buffer zones" around the settlements. This left
Palestinians viewing the Oslo Accords as a cover for Israel to illegally
seize additional land for settlements and was cited as the main reason
for the outburst of al-Aqsa intifada hostilities. The Palestinian
Authority became draconian in what it described as its attempts to
enforce Oslo, shutting down independent media and jailing opponents
(though others viewed these activities as attempts to consolidate
power). Israeli restrictions on trade, investment, and most critically,
water resources that were already being used by Israel, led to increased
unrest amongst Palestinians. Remarks from Israeli government members,
such as Rehavam Zeevi (who would later be assassinated by Palestinian
gunmen) referring to the Palestinian people as "a cancer" and "vermin,"
further worsened relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
Others, however, have claimed that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian
Authority planned the intifada. [1] [2] [3] [4]. They point out that
Yasser Arafat had warned that the failure of on-going peace process
talks would lead to another intifada [5]. They often quote a statement
made by Imad Falouji, the P.A. Communications Minister at the time, that
the violence had been planned since Arafat's return from the Camp David
summit in July, far in advance of Sharon's visit. He stated that the
intifada "was carefully planned since the return of (Palestinian
President) Yasser Arafat from Camp David negotiations rejecting the U.S.
conditions."[6][7]
In his book The High Cost of Peace, Yossef Bodansky writes:
Clinton's proposal... included explicit guarantees that Jews would have
the right to visit and pray in and around the Temple Mount... Once
Sharon was convinced that Jews had free access to the Temple Mount,
there would be little the Israeli religious and nationalist Right could
do to stall the peace process. When Sharon expressed interest in
visiting the Temple Mount, Barak ordered GSS chief Ami Ayalon to
approach Jibril Rajoub with a special request to facilitate a smooth and
friendly visit... Rajoub promised it would be smooth as long as Sharon
would refrain from entering any of the mosques or praying publicly...
Just to be on the safe side, Barak personally approached Arafat and once
again got assurances that Sharon's visit would be smooth as long as he
did not attempt to enter the Holy Mosques... A group of Palestinian
dignitaries came to protest the visit, as did three Arab Knesset
Members. With the dignitaries watching from a safe distance, the Shahab
(youth mob) threw stones and attempted to get past the Israeli security
personnel and reach Sharon and his entourage... Still, Sharon's
deportment was quiet and dignified. He did not pray, did not make any
statement, or do anything else that might be interpreted as offensive to
the sensitivities of Muslims. Even after he came back near the Wailing
Wall under the hail of stones, he remained calm. "I came here as one who
believes in coexistence between Jews and Arabs," Sharon told the waiting
reporters. "I believe that we can build and develop together. This was a
peaceful visit. Is it an instigation for Israeli Jews to come to the
Jewish people's holiest site?" (p354)
Following Israel's pullout from Lebanon in May 2000, the PLO official
Farouk Kaddoumi told reporters: "We are optimistic. Hezbollah's
resistance can be used as an example for other Arabs seeking to regain
their rights"Citation needed.
Starting as early as September 13, 2000, members of Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement carried out a number of attacks on
Israeli military and civilian targets, in violation of Oslo Accords. In
addition, the Israeli agency Palestinian Media Watch alleged that the
Palestinian official TV broadcasts became increasingly militant during
the summer of 2000, as Camp David negotiations faltered [8].
According to the Mitchell Report, (the investigatory committee set up to
look into the cause of the violence and named after the chairman of the
committee, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell), the government of
Israel asserted that
the immediate catalyst for the violence was the breakdown of the Camp
David negotiations on 25 July 2000 and the “widespread appreciation in
the international community of Palestinian responsibility for the
impasse.” In this view, Palestinian violence was planned by the PA
leadership, and was aimed at “provoking and incurring Palestinian
casualties as a means of regaining the diplomatic initiative.”
The Palestine Liberation Organization, according to the same report,
denied that the Intifada was planned, and asserted that "Camp David
represented nothing less than an attempt by Israel to extend the force
it exercises on the ground to negotiations." [9]
The report also stated:
From the perspective of the PLO, Israel responded to the disturbances
with excessive and illegal use of deadly force against demonstrators;
behavior which, in the PLO’s view, reflected Israel’s contempt for the
lives and safety of Palestinians. For Palestinians, the widely seen
images of Muhammad al Durra in Gaza on September 30, shot as he huddled
behind his father, reinforced that perception.
The Mitchell Report, based on a subsequent investigation, found that the
Sharon visit did not cause the Al-Aqsa Intifada, although it was poorly
timed and would clearly have a provocative effect [10]. The report also
concluded that
Accordingly, we have no basis on which to conclude that there was a
deliberate plan by the PA to initiate a campaign of violence at the
first opportunity; or to conclude that there was a delilberate plan by
the Government of Israel to respond with lethal force. [11]
Timeline
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2000
On September 27, Sgt. David Biri (Information from Israeli government)
was killed; Israeli sources typically view this as the start of the
Intifada.
On September 28, 2000, in the West Bank city of Kalkilya, a Palestinian
police officer working with Israeli police on a joint patrol opened fire
and killed his Israeli counterpart. That same day the Israeli opposition
leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount (called Har HaBayt in
Hebrew, Al-Haram As-Sharif in Arabic) in the Old City of Jerusalem, the
holiest site for Judaism, the third holiest site in Islam, and a place
of special significance to Christianity.
Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which Israel unilaterally annexed in
1980, as their capital. Palestinians, the UN and many countries consider
East Jerusalem to be part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank or at least
disputed, and treat Tel Aviv as the Israeli capital. Israel considers
the whole of Jerusalem to be the Israeli capital, and part of Israel.
Sharon's impending visit was officially announced and approved in
advance, though prior to it some moderates on both sides protested,
because of his controversial political stance. He was warned that this
could lead to riots but Sharon declared that he went to the site with a
message of peace. His visit has condemned by the Palestinians as a
provocation and an incursion, as was his over 1,000 strong armed
bodyguard that arrived on the scene with him.
The day after Sharon's visit, following Friday prayers, large riots
broke out around Old Jerusalem during which several Palestinians were
shot dead. In the days that followed, demonstrations erupted all over
the West Bank and Gaza. In Gaza, the live capture of the death of a
12-year-old boy, Muhammad al-Durrah, who, with his father, was caught in
crossfire between Palestinian militiamen and the IDF, caused much
outrage around the world. The violence quickly escalated and in the
first six days of the Intifada, 61 Palestinians were killed and 2,657
were injured in what Palestinians and others regarded as indiscriminate
and excessive use of force [12],[13]. In riots in Israel itself in early
October, a total of twelve Arab-Israelis and one Palestinian were shot
and killed by Israeli police, including Asil Asleh, an Arab Israeli
teenager who was a member of Seeds of Peace. His death was a shock to
many, and his memory was treated as an example of hope for peaceful
coexistence [14],[15]
On October 12, two Israeli reservists who entered Ramallah were arrested
by the PA police (because the soldiers were dressed in civilian clothes
and one was reportedly wearing a Palestinian headdress, they were
suspected of belonging to an undercover Israeli assassination squad). An
agitated Palestinian mob stormed the police station, beat the soldiers
to death, and threw their mutilated bodies into the street. The killings
were captured on video by an Italian TV crew and broadcast on TV; the
famous picture of one of the lynchers waving his blood-stain hands from
the window shocked and outraged many around the world, and became
another iconic image. [16] [17] [18] [19] In response, Israel launched a
series of retaliatory air strikes against the Palestinian Authority.
2001
Ariel Sharon campaigned in the Likud ticket against Labor Party's Ehud
Barak and Sharon was elected Israeli prime minister in February, 2001.
On May 7, 2001, the IDF naval commandos captured the vessel Santorini,
which sailed in international waters towards Palestinian
Authority-controlled Gaza. The ship was laden with weaponry. The Israeli
investigation that followed alleged that the shipment had been purchased
by Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -
General Command (PFLP-GC). The ship's value and that of its cargo was
estimated at $10 million. The crew was reportedly planning to unload the
cargo of weapons filled barrels — carefully sealed and waterproofed
along with their contents — at a prearranged location off the Gaza
coast, where the Palestinian Authority would recover them.
On June 1, 2001, a Hamas suicide bomber detonated himself in the Tel
Aviv coastline Dolphinarium dancing club. 21 Israelis, most of them high
school students, were killed. The attack significantly hampered American
attempts to negotiate cease-fire.
2002
In January 2002 the IDF Shayetet-13 naval commando captured the Karine
A, a large boat carrying weapons from Iran presumably intended to be
used by Palestine militants against Israel. It was discovered that top
officials in the Palestinian Authority were involved in the smuggling.
Israel claims that Yasser Arafat also was involved, a claim accepted by
the Bush Administration.
A spate of suicide bombings launched against Israel elicited a military
response. A suicide bombing dubbed the Passover Massacre (30 Israeli
civilians were killed at Park hotel, Netanya) climaxed a bloody month of
April 2002 (more than 130 Israelis, mostly civilians, killed in
attacks). Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield. The operation led
to the apprehension of many members of militant groups, as well as their
weaponry and equipment.
The UN estimated that 497 Palestinians were killed and 1,447 wounded
during the IDF reoccupation of Palestinian areas between 1 March through
7 May and in the immediate aftermath. An estimated 70-80 Palestinians,
including approximately 50 civilians, were killed in Nablus. Four IDF
soldiers were killed there. [20]
Especially fierce battles took place at the Jenin refugee camp: 32
Palestinian militants, 22 Palestinian civilians, and 23 Israeli soldiers
were killed in the fighting. The battle remains a flashpoint for both
sides, due to allegations of a massacre that surfaced during the IDF's
operations in the camp. These allegations were completely disproven, but
it remains a sore point.
In late April 2 to May 10, a stand-off developed between armed Fatah
militants, who sought refuge at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
and the IDF. Despite the Code of Conduct demanding respect for holy
sites, IDF snipers killed 7 people inside the church and wounded more
than 40 people, the vast majority unarmed civilians. The stand-off was
resolved by the deportation of 13 Palestinian militants to Europe and
the IDF ended its 38 day siege of the church.
2003
Following an Israeli intelligence report claiming to prove that Arafat
paid $20,000 to Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the USA demanded democratic
reforms in the Palestinian Authority, as well the appointment of a prime
minister independent of Arafat. Following U.S. pressure, Arafat
appointed on 13 March 2003 the moderate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as
Palestinian prime minister.
Following the appointment of Abbas, the U.S. administration promoted the
Road Map for Peace — the Quartet's plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict by disbanding militant organizations, ending the Israeli
occupation and establishing a democratic and peaceful Palestinian state.
The first phase of the plan demanded that the PA suppress guerrilla and
terrorist attacks and confiscate illegal weapons. Unable or unwilling to
confront militant organizations and risk civil war, Abbas tried to reach
a temporary cease-fire agreement with the militant factions and asked
them to halt attacks on Israeli civilians.
On May 20, 2003, Israeli naval commandos intercepted another vessel, Abu
Hassan, on course to the Gaza Strip from Lebanon. It was loaded with
rockets, weapons, and ammunition. Eight crew members on board were
arrested including a senior Hezbollah member.
In June 2003, a so-called Hudna (truce) was unilaterally declared by
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which declared a ceasefire and halt to all
attacks against Israel for a period of 45 days. The following month was
relatively quiet on the Israeli side although several suicide bombings
were committed against Israeli civilians. However, little changed in the
everyday lives of Palestinians. Few roadblocks were removed (159 were
left in the West Bank alone), and the IDF continued its policy of
"targeted killings" (assassinations) in addition to crowd dispersal and
demolitions.
One of the more provocative raids was when tanks and APCs invaded a
refugee camp outside Nablus, killing four people, two of whom were
militants. According to Palestinian witnesses, a squad of Israeli police
disguised as Palestinian labourers opened fire on Abbedullah Qawasameh
as he left a Hebron mosque [21]. YAMAM, the Israeli counter-terrorism
police unit which performed the operation, claimed that Qawasemah opened
fire on them as they attempted to arrest him.
On August 19, Hamas coordinated a suicide bombing attack on a crowded
bus in Jerusalem killing 23 Israeli civilians, including 7 children.
Hamas claimed it was a retaliation for the killing of 5 Palestinians
(including Hamas leader Abbedullah Qawasameh) earlier in the week. U.S.
and Israeli media outlets frequently refer to bus bombings shattering
the quiet and bringing an end to the ceasefire but given the higher
number of Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli forces,
Palestinians perceive that these reports reflect a lack of concern for
their peace and quiet.
Following the Hamas bus attack, Israeli Defence Forces were ordered to
kill or capture all Hamas leaders in Hebron and the Gaza Strip. The
plotters of the bus suicide bombing were all captured or killed and
Hamas leadership in Hebron was badly damaged by the IDF. Strict curfews
were enforced in Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarem; the Nablus lockdown lasted
for over 100 days. In Nazlet 'Issa, over 60 shops were destroyed by
Israeli civil administration bulldozers, in what was described by locals
as a scene that rivaled a natural disaster. The Israeli civil
administration explained that the shops were demolished because they
were built without a permit. Palestinians consider Israeli military
curfews and property destruction to constitute collective punishment
against innocent Palestinians. [22]
Unable to rule effectively under Arafat, Abbas resigned in September
2003. Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) was appointed to replace him. The Israeli
government gave up hope for negotiated settlement to the conflict and
pursued a unilateral policy of physically separating Israel from
Palestinian communities by beginning construction on the Israeli West
Bank barrier. Israel claims the barrier is necessary to prevent
Palestinian attackers from entering Israeli cities. Palestinians claim
the barrier separates Palestinian communities from each other and that
the construction plan is a defacto annexation of Palestinian territory.
Following an October 4 suicide bombing in Maxim restaurant, Haifa, which
claimed the lives of 21 Israelis, Israel claimed that Syria and Iran
sponsor Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah and were responsible for the
terrorist attack. Days after the Maxim massacre, IAF warplanes bombed a
terrorist training base at Ein-Saheb, Syria.
2004
In response to a repeated shelling of Israeli communities with Qassam
rockets and mortar shells from Gaza, the IDF operated mainly in Rafah —
to search and destroy smuggling tunnels used by militants to obtain
weapons, ammunition, fugitives, cigarettes, car parts, electrical goods,
foreign currency, gold, drugs and cloth from Egypt. Between September
2000 and May 2004, ninety tunnels connecting Egypt and the Gaza Strip
have been found and destroyed. [23] Recent raids in Rafah left many
families homeless. Israel's official stance is that their houses were
captured by militants and were destroyed during battles with IDF forces.
Many of these houses are abandoned due to Israeli incursions and later
destroyed. Palestinians claim that many houses were destroyed to create
a large buffer zone in the city, displacing several hundred people. The
entire southern side of the city was completely destroyed, making it
very unlikely that an entire portion of a city has been seized by
"terrorists" to use as a base for gunfire (as can be seen in satellite
photos [24]).
Some residents acknowledge the smuggling tunnels as the main factor in
the unrest and destruction in Rafah, according to the Israeli newspaper
Maariv:
"The Palestinian population around Philadelphi is fed up by the
goings-on. Recently, one tunnel was revealed when local residents
approached IDF soldiers and told them where it was. In another case,
after the IDF soldiers and bulldozers destroyed a tunnel, leaving ruins
behind them, some local residents shot the tunnel's owner to death."
[25], [26].
Some accounts reflect a more common sentiment. [27] [28] [29].
"Mine is the last home in the street now and it's everything we have,"
said Abu Alouf, a resident who has watched her neighbors' houses
destroyed one by one. "I have begged them not to destroy it. They know
there are no tunnels here but I don't think it is about that at all. Do
they really believe that every house in my street had a tunnel under the
border?"
"It's not a matter of tunnels or terrorists," said Yusuf Ashair, a man
made homeless in Block J. "They want us out of here, they want us to
flee. They don't care if it's a school or a house they destroy. They
know that if they destroy it all, people will leave."
On 2 February 2004, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his
plan to transfer all the Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. The
Israeli opposition dismissed his announcement as "media spin" but the
Israeli Labour Party said it would support such a move. Sharon's
right-wing coalition partners Mafdal and National Union rejected the
plan and vowed to quit the government if it were implemented.
Surprisingly, Yossi Beilin, peace advocate and architect of the Oslo
Accords and the Geneva Initiative, also rejected the proposed withdrawal
plan. He claimed that withdrawing from the Gaza Strip without a peace
agreement would reward terror.
Following the declaration of the disengagement plan by Ariel Sharon and
as a response to suicide attacks on Erez Crossing and Ashdod seaport (10
people were killed), the IDF launched a series of armored raids on the
Gaza Strip (mainly Rafah and refugee camps around Gaza), killing about
70 Hamas militants. On March 22, 2004, an Israeli helicopter gunship
killed Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and on April 17, after several
failed attempts by Hamas to avenge Yassin's death, his successor, Abed
al-Aziz Rantissi was killed by IDF helicopter gunship strike.
The fighting in Gaza Strip escalated severely in May 2004 after several
failed attempts to attack Israeli checkpoints such as Erez crossing and
Karni crossing. However, on May 11 and May 12, Palestinian militants
destroyed two IDF M-113 APCs, killing 13 soldiers and mutilating their
bodies. The IDF launched two raids to recover the bodies in which about
20-40 Palestinians were killed and great damage was caused to structures
in the Zaitoun neigbourhood in Gaza and in south-west Rafah.
Subsequently, on May 18 the IDF launched Operation Rainbow with a stated
aim of striking the terror infrastructure of Rafah, destroying smuggling
tunnels, and stopping a shipment of SA-7 missiles and improved anti-tank
weapons. The operation ended after the IDF killed 40 alleged Palestinian
militants and 12 civilians and demolished about 45-56 structures. The
great destruction and killing of 10 peaceful protestors led to a
worldwide outcry against the operation. See further discussion in
Operation Rainbow.
On September 29, after a Qassam rocket hit the Israeli town of Sderot
and killed two Israeli children, the IDF launched Operation Days of
Penitence in the north of the Gaza Strip. The operation's stated aim was
to remove the threat of Qassam rockets from Sderot and kill the Hamas
militants launching them. The operation ended on October 16 after
Israeli forces killed an estimated 104-133 Palestinians, including 62-87
militants and 18-31 children. The operation brought footage of an
Israeli commander killing Iman_Darweesh_Al_Hams at close range, which
led to sharp criticism of the IDF. [30] [31] [32] (See Media coverage of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.) According to Palestinian medics,
Israeli forces killed at least 62 militants and 42 other Palestinians
believed to be civilians.[33] According to a count performed by Haaretz,
87 combatants and 42 non-combatants were killed. Palestinian refugee
camps were heavily damaged by the Israeli assault. The IDF announched
that at least 12 Qassam launchings had been thwarted and many terrorists
hit during the operation. Three Israelis also were killed (1 civilian).
On October 21, the Israeli Air Force killed Adnan al-Ghoul, a senior
Hamas bombmaker and the inventor of the Qassam rocket.
On November 11, Yasser Arafat died in Paris.
Escalation in Gaza began amid the visit of Mahmoud Abbas to Syria in
order to achieve a Hudna between Palestinian factions and convince Hamas
leadership to halt attacks against Israelis. Hamas vowed to continue the
armed struggle, while numerous Qassam rockets hit open fields near Nahal
Oz and an anti-tank missile hit a kindergarten in Kfar Darom.
On December 9 five weapon smugglers were killed and two were arrested in
the border between Rafah and Egypt. Later that day, Jamal Abu Samhadana
and two of his bodyguards were injured by a missile strike. In the first
Israeli airstrike against militants in weeks, an unmanned Israeli drone
plane launched one missile at Abu Samahdna's car as it traveled between
Rafah and Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. It was the fourth
attempt on Samhadana's life by Israel. AP. Samhadana is one of two
leaders of the Popular Resistance Committees and one of the main forces
behind the smuggling tunnels. Samhadana is believed to be responsible
for the blast against an American diplomatic convoy in Gaza that killed
three Americans.
On December 10, in response to Hamas firing mortar rounds into the Neveh
Dekalim settlement in the Gaza Strip and wounding four Israelis
(including an 8 year old boy), Israeli soldiers fired at the Khan Younis
refugee camp (the origin of the mortars) killing a 7-year-old girl. An
IDF source confirmed troops opened fire at Khan Younis, but said they
aimed at Hamas mortar crews. The IDF insisted that it does its utmost to
avoid civilian casualties. AP Haaretz.
The largest attack since the death of Yasser Arafat claimed the lives of
five Israeli soldiers on December 12, wounding ten others. Approximately
1.5 tons of explosives were detonated in a tunnel under an Israeli
military-controlled border crossing on the Egyptian border with Gaza
near Rafah, collapsing several structures and damaging others. The
explosion destroyed part of the outpost and killed three soldiers. Two
Palestinian militants then penetrated the outpost and killed two other
Israeli soldiers with gunfire. It is believed that Hamas and a new Fatah
faction, the "Fatah Hawks," conducted the highly organized and
coordinated attack. A spokesman, "Abu Majad," claimed responsibility for
the attack in the name of the Fatah Hawks claiming it was in retaliation
for "the assassination" of Yasser Arafat, charging he was poisoned by
Israel. [34]
2005
Palestinian presidential elections were held on January 9, and Mahmoud
Abbas (Abu Mazen) was elected as the president of the PA. Although Abbas
called militants to halt attacks against Israel, he promised them he'll
protect them from Israeli incursions and will not force them to disarm.
Colin Powell and Israeli officials expressed concern over Abbas's
election rhetoric and pictures taken of him with armed al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades activists.
However, hopes sharply decreased after violence continued in the Gaza
Strip, reaching its height on Thursday the 13th, as six Israelis were
killed by suicide bombers at the Karni crossing on the edge of the Gaza
Strip. In reaction to the bombing, Ariel Sharon froze all diplomatic and
security contacts with the Palestinian Authority. Spokesman Assaf Shariv
declared that "Israel informed international leaders today that there
will be no meetings with Abbas until he makes a real effort to stop the
terror". The freezing of contacts came less than one week after Mahmoud
Abbas was elected, and the day before his inauguration . Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erekat, confirming the news, declared "You cannot hold
Mahmoud Abbas accountable when he hasn't even been inaugurated yet".
[35][36]
Following international pressure and Israeli threat of wide military
operation in the Gaza Strip, Abbas ordered Palestinian police to deploy
in the Northern Gaza to prevent Qassam and mortar shelling over Israeli
settlement. Although attacks on Israeli have not stopped completely they
have decreased sharply. Notable violent events were the killing of a
Palestinian in Rafah (by Palestinian fire) which followed with Hamas
shelling Israeli settlements as a "revenge"; serveral infilitration
attempts by Palestinian terrorists; and the arrest of a 15-year-old
Palestinian with explosive belt in Nablus checkpoint. Palestinian
policemen started to act against the smuggling tunnels in Rafah.
After Sharon was convinced that Abbas was determined to stop terrorism,
he agreed to meet him at a peace summit at Sharm al-Sheikh. Israel said
it would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill
gesture, but not prisoners with "blood on their hands". However,
Palestinians demanded that at least three pre-Oslo convicted murderers
be released. Israel should also start moving cities in the West Bank to
Palestinian responsibility, provided they will stop attacks from them.
On February 8, 2005, at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit of 2005, Sharon and
Abbas declared a mutual truce between Israel and the Palestinian
National Authority. They shook hands at a four-way summit which also
included Jordan and Egypt at Sharm al-Sheikh. However, Hamas and Islamic
Jihad said the truce is not binding for their members. Israel has not
withdrawn its demand to dismantle terrorist infrastructure before moving
ahead in the Road Map for Peace. [37]
Many warned that truce is a fragile, and progress must be done slowly
while observing that the truce and quiet are kept. On February
9-February 10 night, a barrage of 25-50 Qassam rockets and mortar shells
hit Neve Dekalim settlement, and another barrage hit at noon. Hamas said
it was in retaliation for an attack in which one Palestinian was killed
near an Israeli settlement. [38]. As a response to the mortar attack,
Abbas ordered the Palestinian security forces to stop such attacks in
the future. He also fired senior commanders in the Palestinian security
apparatus. [39] On February 10 afternoon Israeli security forces
arrested Maharan Omar Shucat Abu Hamis, a Palestinian resident of
Nablus, who was about to launch a bus suicide bombing in the French Hill
in Jerusalem. [40]
A major shift occurred on February 13, 2005, as Abbas entered talks with
the leaders of the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas, for them to rally behind
him and respect the truce. Ismail Haniyah, a senior leader of the group
Hamas said that "its position regarding calm will continue unchanged and
Israel will bear responsibility for any new violation or aggression".
Abbas so far been able to make things quiet and it could very well be a
new hope for a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.
May and June saw a sharp increase in Palestinian terror attacks. In
Nablus and Jenin, many Palestinian youth were caught carrying explosives
- either as suicide bombers or as curriers. In the Gaza Strip,
Palestinian factions such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance
Committees commited attacks on IDF outposts and Israeli settlements
almost daily. On the middle of June, Palestinian factions intensified
bombardment over the city of Sderot (outside the Gaza Strip) with
improvised Qassam rockets. Palestinian attacks in May through June 20
resulted in 2 Palestinians and a Chinese killed by a Qassam and 2
Israelis killed by anti-tank missile and car ambush. The wave of terror
attacks lessen support for the disengagement plan among the Israeli
public. Attacks on Israel by the Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades increased on July, and reached the peak on July 12, when a
suicide bombing hit the coastal city of Netanya, killing 5 people. On
July 14, Hamas started to shell Israeli settlement inside and outside
the Gaza Strip with dozen of Qassam rockets, killing an Israeli women.
This was too much for the Israeli restraint policy, there was also fear
that the terror would render the disengagement plan impossible. On July
15 Israel resumed its "targeted killing" policy, killing 7 Hamas
militants and bombing about 4 Hamas facilities. The continuation of
shelling rockets over Israeli settlements, and fatal street battles
between Hamas militants and Palestinian policemen, threaten to shatter
the truce, agreed on Sharm el-Sheikh Summit of 2005. The Israeli Defence
Force started to build-up armored forces around the Gaza Strip in a
ultimatum to Palestinian stop firing Qassams and disarm terror
groups.[41]
Tactics
The tactics of the two sides in the conflict are largely based upon
their resources and goals. Despite the claims of both sides to the
contrary, polling consistently shows that a majority of both
Palestinians and Israelis agree on the same basic goals: a two state
solution and a right for Palestinian refugees to move to the new
Palestinian state (but not to Israel).
Palestinians
On the Palestinian side, a variety of groups are involved in violence
such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. They
have waged a high-intensity campaign of guerrilla warfare and terrorism
against Israel. Military equipment is mostly imported light arms and
homemade weapons, such as hand grenades and explosive belts, assault
rifles, and the Qassam rocket. They also have increased use of
remote-controlled landmines, a tactic which has become increasingly
popular among the poorly armed groups. Car bombs were often used against
"lightly hardened" targets such as Israeli armored jeeps and
checkpoints.
Palestinian "suicide belt", a vest loaded with explosives, captured by
the Israeli police.
Enlarge
Palestinian "suicide belt", a vest loaded with explosives, captured by
the Israeli police.
The tactic which the Palestinians have become most infamous for is the
suicide bombing. Conducted as a single or double bombing, suicide
bombings are generally conducted against "soft" targets (civilians) or
"lightly hardened" targets (such as checkpoints) to try to raise the
cost of the war to Israelis and demoralize the Israeli society. Most
suicide bombing attacks (although not all) are targeted against
civilians, and conducted on crowded places in Israeli cities, such as
public transportation (buses), restaurants and markets.
Contrary to popular belief, most suicide bombers are not religious
radicals, nor are they from the most destitute sections of the
population - they generally are relatively well off and well educated,
and view their action as a sacrifice intended to remedy an injustice.
The suicide bombings are not an act of desperation but rather a
considered deliberate act characterized as martyrdom. It is this last
tactic which has earned them the most international scorn. On 14 March,
a 10-year-old boy was caught carrying a bomb through a checkpoint. Ten
days later, a mentally deficient 16-year-old had been paid to be a
suicide bomber. Unlike most suicide bombings, the use of children in the
conflict not only earned condemnation from the United States and from
human rights groups such as Amnesty International, but also from many
Palestinians and much of the Middle East press [42]. The youngest
Palestinian suicide bomber was 16-year-old Issa Bdeir, a high school
student from the village of Al Doha, who shocked his friends and family
when he blew himself up in a park in Rishon LeZion, killing a teenage
boy and an elderly man.
UNRWA ambulance carry armed militants
Enlarge
UNRWA ambulance carry armed militants
Palestinian militants have been accused of using ambulances of both the
UNRWA and the Red Crescent to transport armed men, suicide bombers,
weapons and explosives.[43]
On March 27, 2002, Israel seized an explosive belt from a Red Crescent
ambulance. The vest was detonated in front of TV cameras by an EOD
robot.
In May 2004, Israel Defence minister Shaul Mofaz claimed that UNRWA
ambulances were used to take the bodies of dead Israeli soldiers in
order to prevent the Israel Defense Forces from recovering their dead.
[44] Reuters has provided video of healthy armed men entering ambulance
with UN markings for transport. UNRWA initially denied that its
ambulances carry militants but later reported that the driver was forced
to comply with threats from armed men. UNRWA still denies that their
ambulances carried body parts of dead Israeli soldiers.
In August 2004, Israel claimed that an advanced explosives-detection
device employed by the IDF at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus
discovered a Palestinian ambulance had transported explosive material.
[45]
Israel
On the Israeli side, a well-trained, well-equipped military force with a
strong central command has led to the development of tactics well-suited
to the enclosed, urban environment in which the IDF is frequently
fighting. The Israeli Defense Forces stress the safety of their troops,
using such heavily armored equipment as the Merkava tank and various
military aircraft including F-16s, drone aircrafts and helicopter
gunships. Sniper towers are used extensively in the Gaza Strip and are
being increasingly employed in the West Bank. Heavy armored bulldozers,
such as the Caterpillar D9, are routinely employed to detonate booby
traps and IEDs, and clear houses along the border with Egypt used to
fire at Israeli troops, in "buffer zones", and during military
operations in the West Bank. Israel has also established the policy of
destroying the family home of suicide bombers. Due to the considerable
number of Palestinians living in single homes, the large quantity of
homes destroyed, and collateral damage from home demolitions, it has
become an increasingly controversial tactic. Families have provided
timely information to Israeli forces regarding suicide bombing
activities in order to prevent the demolition of their houses, although
families who do this risk being executed or otherwise punished for
collaboration, either by the Palestinian Authority or extra-judicially
by Palestinian militants.
With complete ground and air superiority, mass detentions are regularly
conducted; at any given time, there are about 6,000 Palestinian
prisoners in Israeli jails, about half of them held without charges.
Various international aid groups, such as Amnesty International, have
documented many incidents of the use of torture [46]; Israel denies the
routine use of torture. Checkpoints, designed to weed out militants and
limit the ability to move weapons around, divide most Palestinian cities
and interconnections between cities. Transit across checkpoints
generally takes 2-8 hours, depending on the current security situation
in Israel. Palestinian metalworking shops and other business facilities
suspected by Israel of being used to manufacture weapons are regularly
destroyed by airstrikes. The tactic of military "curfew" - long-term
lockdown of civilian areas - has been used routinely. Nablus was kept
under curfew for over 100 consecutive days, with generally under two
hours per day allowed for people to get food or conduct other business.
IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer.
Enlarge
IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer.
Although these tactics also have been condemned internationally, Israel
insists they are vital to thwart "terrorist attacks" and ensure the
security of the Jewish state. Some cite figures, such as those published
in Haaretz newsaper, to prove the effectivness of these methods ( Graph
1: Thwarted attacks (yellow) vs successful attacks (red) - Graph 2:
Suicide bombing within the "green line" per quarter). The Israeli secret
services Shin Bet (SHABAK) enable the Israeli Security Forces (IDF,
Magav, police YAMAM and Mistaravim SF units) to thwart suicide bombings
by providing real-time warnings and reliable intelligence reports.
Israel also pursues a policy of "targeted killings," a euphemism for the
assassination of militants and especially prominent leaders. Such
killings are used to single out as a target those involved in
perpetrating attacks against Israelis, and to intimidate others from
following suit. This tactic has been condemned as unlawful summary
execution by some international human rights organizations and the
United Nations, while others (such as the United States) see it as a
legitimate measure of self defense against "terrorism". Many criticize
the targeted killings for placing civilians at risk, though its
supporters believe it reduces civilian casualties on both sides. Israel
has been criticized for the use of helicopter gunship missiles in urban
assassinations which often results in civilian casualties. Israel in
turn has criticized what it describes as a practice of militant leaders
hiding among civilians in densely populated areas, thus turning them
into unwitting human shields.
The West Bank separation barrier
See Israeli West Bank barrier
International Involvement
The international community has long taken an involvement in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and this involvement has only increased
during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Israel annually receives 1.2 billion
dollars in economic aid and 1.8 billion dollars in military aid from the
United States, excluding loan guarantees. Much of this is as a result of
the Camp David Accords and the associated peace treaty between Egypt and
Israel. The Palestinian Authority generally receives about 100 million
dollars in economic aid from the United States, and the Palestinian
territories are major humanitarian aid recipients. The conflict has been
widely reported in the international press, with a large degree of
sympathy for the Palestinians in the Arab world and Europe, and sympathy
for the Israelis in United States. As such, it seems only likely that a
solution to the conflict will involve 3rd party mediation, either by the
United States or the United Nations.
Additionally, private groups have started becoming increasingly involved
in the conflict, such as the International Solidarity Movement on the
side of the Palestinians, and the American-Israeli Public Affairs
Committee on the side of the Israelis.
Economic and human costs
Some Israelis claim that the Palestinian Authority throughout the
intifada has sought to place unarmed men, women, children and the
elderly in the line of fire between Israeli forces and armed
Palestinians, and that television, radio, sermons, and calls from mosque
loudspeaker systems are used for this purpose. (See Engineering civilian
casualties in External Links). Palestinians heavily dispute this claim.
In the Palestinian attacks, about 1,001 Israelis were killed (up to
September 2004) and 6,700 were wounded (source: Israel's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs). The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group reports
everyday disagreements and clashes between the various political
factions, families and cities that a complete picture of Palestinian
society is painted. These divisions have during the course of the al
Aqsa Intifada also led to an increasingly violent ‘Intrafada’. In the 10
year period from 1993 to 2003, 16% of Palestinian civilian deaths were
caused by Palestinian groups or individuals [47]. Erika Waak reports in
The Humanist Of the total number of Palestinian civilians killed during
this period by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces, 16 percent
were the victims of Palestinian security forces.[48] Freedom House's
annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the
World 2001-2002, reports Civil liberties declined due to: shooting
deaths of Palestinian civilians by Palestinian security personnel; the
summary trial and executions of alleged collaborators by the Palestinian
Authority (PA); extra-judicial killings of suspected collaborators by
militias; and the apparent official encouragement of Palestinian youth
to confront Israeli soldiers, thus placing them directly in harm's way.
[49] The Israeli commerce has experienced much hardship, in particular
because of the sharp drop in tourism. A representative of Israel's
Chamber of Commerce has estimated the cumulative economic damage caused
by the crisis at 150 to 200 billion Shekels, or 35 to 45 billion US $ -
against an annual GDP of 122 billion dollars in 2002.
Following statistics of the Palestine Red Crescent Society 2,417
Palestinians were killed and 22,233 were wounded from 29 September 2000,
to 1 August 2003. Sixteen square kilometers of land in the Gaza Strip,
most of it agricultural, was razed by Israeli military forces and more
than 601 houses were completely destroyed. The UNSCO (Office of the
United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories)
estimates the damage done to the Palestinian economy at over 1.1 billion
dollars in the first quarter of 2002, compared to an annual GDP of 4.5
billion dollars. There are 42% of Gazans dependent on food aid, and 18%
of Gaza children exhibit chronic malnutrition. Additionally, 85% of
Gazans and 58% of Palestinians in the west bank lived below the poverty
line.
A study (see below) by the Institute on Combatting Terrorism indicates
that nearly 55% of the Palestinians killed were combatants; moreover,
the non-combatant Palestinian casualties are mostly male of combatant
ages. According to their data, more than 300 Palestinians were killed by
actions of their own side. Palestinians dispute this, as the report
treats most people that were killed as combatants, often much to the
dispute of locals and international aid workers. Additionally, to reach
these numbers, "combatant age" was defined to include ages 15 and up.
Finally, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, this contradicts a
calculation, claimed to be conducted by the Shin Bet, which determined
that of the 2,341 Palestinians killed up to August 2003, only 551 were
combatants - about 23%. [50]. However, the attribution of these numbers
to the Shin Bet is highly disputed.
On August 24, 2004, Haaretz reporter Zeev Schiff published casualty
figures based on Shin Bet data. Here is a summary of the figures
presented in the article:
* Some 1,001 Israelis were killed by Palestinian attacks in the al-Aqsa
Intifada, most of them (more than 75%) civilians.
* Palestinians sources claim 2,736 Palestinians killed in the intifada.
* The Shin Bet has the names of 2,124 Palestinian dead.
* Out of the figure of 2,124 dead, 1,414 (or 66%) were said to be
combatants (armed men and/or "terrorists"). The casualties are thus
assigned to organizations:
o 466 Hamas members
o 408 Fatah's Tanzim and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
o 205 Palestinian Islamic Jihad
o 334 of Arafat's guard Force 17, the Palestinian police and the General
Intelligence
As a response to IDF statistics about Palestinian casualties in the West
Bank, the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem released a study
indicating two thirds of the Palestinians killed in 2004 did not
participate in the fighting. [51]
On September 8, Maariv published IDF casualties figures indicating that
some 989 Israelis were killed and 6,700 injured. Of the dead, 694 were
civilians and 295 security personnel.
Effects on Oslo Accords
Since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and its emphasis on suicide
bombers deliberately targeting civilians riding public transportation
(buses), the Oslo Accords are viewed with increasing disfavor by the
Israeli public. In May 2000, seven years after the Oslo Accords and five
months before the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, a survey by the Tami
Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at the University of Tel Aviv found
that: 39% of all Israelis support the Accords and that 32% believe that
the Accords will result in peace in the next few years. [52]. By
constrast, the May 2004 survey found that 26% of all Israelis support
the Accords and 18% believe that the Accords will result in peace in the
next few years; decreases of 13% and 16% respectively. Furthermore, the
May 2004 survey found that 80% of all Israelis believe the Israel
Defense Forces have succeeded in dealing with the Al-Aqsa Intifada
militarily. [53]
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Aqsa_Intifada
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