On September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon, the leader of Israel's opposition, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (Temple Mount) under the protection of hundreds of police and special forces. He was provoking. Declaring: "The Mount is ours." The next day, protests erupted. Israeli police fired live ammunition and rubber bullets at worshippers. The first martyrs fell. Thus began the Second Palestinian Intifada – the "Al-Aqsa Intifada." Five years of blood. Suicide bombings on Israeli buses and cafés. Military invasions of Palestinian cities. The destruction of Jenin refugee camp. The assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The construction of the separation wall. The siege of Arafat in his compound. By the end: ~4,000 Palestinians dead, ~1,000 Israelis dead, and the complete destruction of Palestinian infrastructure. This is the full story.
Summary: The Second Intifada (Al-Aqsa Intifada) broke out in September 2000 after Sharon's provocative visit to Al-Aqsa. It lasted 5 years. Marked by Israel's use of overwhelming military force (F-16s, tanks, house demolitions) and Palestinian resistance (suicide bombings). Key events: Battle of Jenin (2002), assassinations of Sheikh Yassin and Rantisi (2004), Siege of Arafat (2002-2004), and construction of the Separation Wall. Ended with a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.
🔥 The Spark: Sharon at Al-Aqsa
On the morning of September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon – then leader of the Likud party – made a visit to the Al-Aqsa compound. The visit was a calculated provocation. Sharon, carrying a bloody history (responsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacres of 1982), wanted to assert Israeli sovereignty over Al-Aqsa. Over 1,000 police surrounded him. He said: "I came to affirm that the Temple Mount is ours." Palestinians saw the visit as a declaration of religious war. The next day, after Friday prayers, thousands of worshippers emerged from the mosque. Police opened fire with live ammunition. Seven Palestinians killed. 200 wounded. Within days, protests spread across all of Palestine. The Intifada had begun. But this time... it was different from the first (1987). In the First Intifada, Palestinians threw stones. In the Second, guns appeared. And suicide bombings. And Israel responded with warplanes and tanks.
💣 Suicide Bombings: The Weapon of the Intifada
What distinguished the Second Intifada from the first: suicide bombings. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades began sending bombers into Israel. They targeted buses, cafés, restaurants, and shopping centers. The "Moment Café" bombing (Jerusalem, March 2002): 11 Israelis killed. The "Park Hotel" bombing (Netanya, March 2002): 30 killed during the Passover Seder. This attack was a turning point. Israel decided to invade. Suicide bombings killed ~450 Israelis during the Intifada. But they unified Israeli society behind Sharon. And made global public opinion sympathetic to Israel. The Palestinians paid a heavy price: each suicide bombing was followed by invasions, arrests, and house demolitions.
"This Intifada is not just a popular uprising. It is a revolution of a people who want freedom."
🏚️ Operation "Defensive Shield": The Invasion of the West Bank
In March 2002, after the Park Hotel bombing, Israel launched the largest military operation in the West Bank since 1967. They called it "Defensive Shield." 30,000 Israeli soldiers invaded Palestinian cities. Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Qalqilya. But the fiercest battle was in the Jenin refugee camp. The camp that Israel called "the capital of suicide bombers." For 10 days (April 3-11, 2002), fierce fighting raged in the camp's alleys. Israel used warplanes and armored bulldozers (D9) to demolish homes. 52 Palestinians killed (fighters and civilians). 23 Israeli soldiers killed. The camp was completely destroyed. Palestinians called it the "Battle of Jenin." Israel banned journalists and the Red Cross from entering for days. When they entered... the scenes were horrific. Homes demolished. Bodies under rubble. But Jenin became a legend. A symbol of resistance.
Second Intifada Toll (2000-2005): ~4,000 Palestinians killed (including 800 children). ~1,000 Israelis killed. 6,000 Palestinian homes demolished. Separation Wall built: 700 km long.
🧱 The Separation Wall
In 2002, Israel began building the "Separation Barrier." It said: to prevent suicide bombings. Palestinians called it the "Apartheid Wall." The wall was not built on the Green Line (1967 borders). It cut deep into the West Bank. Isolated villages from their farmland. Separated farmers from their fields. Divided families. Turned Palestinian cities into large prisons. Planned length: 700 kilometers. Height in some areas: 8 meters (twice the Berlin Wall). In 2004, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion: the wall is illegal and must be dismantled. Israel ignored it. The wall still stands. It is now... a permanent reality.
🕊️ The End: Ceasefire and Withdrawal
In November 2004, Yasser Arafat died in a Paris hospital (under suspicious circumstances, many believe he was poisoned). In January 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority. In February 2005, both sides declared a ceasefire. In August-September 2005, Sharon implemented the "Disengagement Plan": the Israeli army withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Settlements were dismantled. The Second Intifada was over. But its legacy remained: 4,000 martyrs. Massive destruction. A wall separating Palestinians from their land. And a Palestinian division (Fatah in the West Bank, Hamas in Gaza after 2007). The Second Intifada did not achieve independence. But it proved one thing: the Palestinian people... will not disappear.