Editing Second Intifada (section)

==Tactics==
Unlike the [[First Intifada]], a [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] civil uprising mainly focused on [[Political demonstration|mass protests]] and [[General strike|general strikes]], the Second Intifada rapidly turned into an armed conflict between Palestinian militant groups and the Israel Defense Forces.<ref name=":1"/> Palestinian tactics focused on Israeli civilians, soldiers, police and other security forces, and methods of attack included [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|suicide bombings]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Efraim Benmelech |author2=Claude Berrebi |url=http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/benmelech/files/JEP_0807.pdf |title=Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers |journal=[[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume=21 |number=3 |date=Summer 2007 |pages=223–238 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707185129/http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/benmelech/files/JEP_0807.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2010 |doi=10.1257/jep.21.3.223}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Matta |first1=Nada |last2=Rojas |first2=René |date=2016 |title=The Second Intifada: A Dual Strategy Arena |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-sociology-archives-europeennes-de-sociologie/article/abs/second-intifada/CEF937E5D28EFA4F4F684E6D946942BF |url-status=live |journal=European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie |language=en |volume=57 |issue=1 |page=66 |doi=10.1017/S0003975616000035 |issn=0003-9756 |s2cid=146939293 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405161756/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-sociology-archives-europeennes-de-sociologie/article/abs/second-intifada/CEF937E5D28EFA4F4F684E6D946942BF |archive-date=5 April 2022 |access-date=5 April 2022 |quote=Suicide terror, lethal attacks indiscriminately carried out against civilians via self-immolation, attained prominence in the Palestinian repertoire beginning in March 2001. From that point until the end of 2005, at which point they virtually ceased, 57 suicide bombings were carried out, causing 491 civilian deaths, 73% of the total civilians killed by Palestinian resistance organizations and 50% of all Israeli fatalities during this period. While not the modal coercive tactic, suicide terror was the most efficient in terms of lethality, our basic measure of its efficacy.}}</ref> launching [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|rockets and mortars]] into [[Israel]],<ref name=BBC_Q&A>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7818022.stm |title=Q&A: Gaza conflict |work=BBC News |date=18 January 2009 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=5 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705061215/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7818022.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3702088.stm |title=Gaza's rocket threat to Israel |work=BBC News |date=21 January 2008 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=23 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923035807/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3702088.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> kidnapping of both soldiers<ref name="usatoday">{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-25-israeli-palestinian_N.htm |work=[[USA Today]] |title=Hamas releases audio of captured Israeli |date=25 June 2007 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729121256/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-25-israeli-palestinian_N.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/timeline-1-940-days-from-gilad-shalit-s-abduction-to-his-release-1.389452 |title=Timeline / 1,940 days from Gilad Shalit's abduction to his release |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=16 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916203611/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/timeline-1-940-days-from-gilad-shalit-s-abduction-to-his-release-1.389452 |url-status=live }}</ref> and civilians, including children,<ref name=USA/><ref name="Globe_and_Mail_10_May_2001">{{cite news |title=Mr. Day Speaks the Truth |date=10 May 2001 |page=A.19 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Toronto |author=Marcus Gee |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q=%22When+two+teenaged+boys+were+found+dead+near+their+homes+in+the+West+Bank%2C+their+bodies+bound%2C+mutilated+and+pummelled+with+stones%2C+Mr.+Arafat+refused+to+express+regret%2C+saying+only+that+Palestinian+children+were+victims+too%22 |access-date=20 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024164549/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q=%22When+two+teenaged+boys+were+found+dead+near+their+homes+in+the+West+Bank%2C+their+bodies+bound%2C+mutilated+and+pummelled+with+stones%2C+Mr.+Arafat+refused+to+express+regret%2C+saying+only+that+Palestinian+children+were+victims+too%22 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |author-link=Marcus Gee |url-status=dead}}</ref> shootings,<ref>{{multiref2|{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/mideast/2001-05-09-slainteens.htm|title=Two Israeli teenagers stoned to death 1|website=usatoday.com|last=Kalman|first=Mathew|access-date=20 June 2012|publisher=[[USA TODAY]].|archive-date=20 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420150223/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/mideast/2001-05-09-slainteens.htm|url-status=live}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q=%22When+two+teenaged+boys+were+found+dead+near+their+homes+in+the+West+Bank%2C+their+bodies+bound%2C+mutilated+and+pummelled+with+stones%2C+Mr.+Arafat+refused+to+express+regret%2C+saying+only+that+Palestinian+children+were+victims+too%22|title=Mr. Day Speaks the Truth 2|website=The Globe and Mail|last=Glee|first=Marcus|access-date=20 June 2012|publisher=[[The Globe and Mail]]|archive-date=24 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024164549/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/search/?q=%22When+two+teenaged+boys+were+found+dead+near+their+homes+in+the+West+Bank%2C+their+bodies+bound%2C+mutilated+and+pummelled+with+stones%2C+Mr.+Arafat+refused+to+express+regret%2C+saying+only+that+Palestinian+children+were+victims+too%22|url-status=dead}}|{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/IDF-nabs-Zeev-Kahanes-murderer|title=IDF nabs Ze'ev Kahane's murderer|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com|last=Katz|first=Yakoov|access-date=28 September 2014|publisher=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072054/http://www.jpost.com/Israel/IDF-nabs-Zeev-Kahanes-murderer|url-status=live}}|{{cite magazine|url=http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/01/41300|title=Israel's 'First Internet Murder|magazine=Wired|last=Hershman|first=Tania|access-date=15 January 2001|publisher=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|archive-date=19 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019223411/http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/01/41300|url-status=dead}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.il/FirstGov/TopNavEng/EngSubjects/SafeSurfingEng/TeenagersEng/SSETSurfSafetly/SSETSTOphirRachum/|title=The Murder of Ofir Rahum|access-date=22 October 2007|publisher=Israel Government Portal., Inc.|archive-date=22 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022111226/http://www.gov.il/FirstGov/TopNavEng/EngSubjects/SafeSurfingEng/TeenagersEng/SSETSurfSafetly/SSETSTOphirRachum/|url-status=dead}}|||{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7282269.stm|title="Eight killed at Jerusalem school"|last=Katz|first=Yaakov|date=7 March 2008|access-date=28 September 2014|publisher=BBC News.|archive-date=9 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309202319/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7282269.stm|url-status=live}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/03/06/terror-attack-at-jerusalem-seminary-merkaz-harav-yeshiva-8-dead/|title="Terror Attack At Jerusalem Seminary – Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva – 8 Dead"|access-date=28 September 2014|publisher=National Terror Alert Response Center.|archive-date=27 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927101745/http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/03/06/terror-attack-at-jerusalem-seminary-merkaz-harav-yeshiva-8-dead/}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/06/jerusalem_seminary_attacked/8267/|title=Jerusalem seminary attacked|access-date=8 March 2008|publisher=United Press International|archive-date=8 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308201142/http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/03/06/jerusalem_seminary_attacked/8267/}}
}}</ref> assassination,<ref>{{cite news |author=Assaf Zohar |date=17 October 2001 |url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-528286 |title=Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi assassinated at point-blank range in Jerusalem Hyatt |newspaper=[[Globes (newspaper)|Globes]] |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072405/http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-528286 |url-status=live }}</ref> stabbings,<ref name=USA/><ref name=IE>{{cite news |title='Get tough' call to Sharon as Jewish boys stoned to death |newspaper=[[Irish Independent]] |author=Phil Reeves |url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/get-tough-call-to-sharon--as-jewish-boys-stoned-to--death-344813.html |access-date=11 March 2011 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326135447/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/get-tough-call-to-sharon-as-jewish-boys-stoned-to-death-26086317.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and lynchings.<ref>{{multiref2|{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1370229/A-day-of-rage-revenge-and-bloodshed.html|title=A day of rage, revenge and bloodshed|last=Alan|first=Philips|date=13 October 2020|access-date=20 June 2012|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]].|archive-date=14 October 2017|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171014065726/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1370229/A-day-of-rage-revenge-and-bloodshed.html}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/get-tough-call-to-sharon--as-jewish-boys-stoned-to--death-344813.html|title=Get tough' call to Sharon as Jewish boys stoned to death|access-date=11 March 2011|publisher=[[Irish Independent]].|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326135447/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/get-tough-call-to-sharon-as-jewish-boys-stoned-to-death-26086317.html|url-status=live}}|{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/969778.stm|title=Lynch mob's brutal attack|last=Smith|first=John|date=13 October 2000|work=BBC News|access-date=16 June 2004|archive-date=29 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129215716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/969778.stm|url-status=live}}|{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/a-strange-voice-said-i-just-killed-your-husband-635341.html|title=A strange voice said: I just killed your husband|last=Raymond|first=Whitaker|date=14 October 2000|newspaper=[[The Independent]] London.|access-date=9 August 2021|archive-date=15 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615172002/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/a-strange-voice-said-i-just-killed-your-husband-635341.html}}||||
}}</ref>

Israeli tactics included firing live ammunition into crowds of protesters, even when the lives of Israeli Security forces were not at threat,<ref name=AMNbrok >{{cite web | title=Broken lives – a year of intifada| url=https://www.amnesty.org/ar/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/mde150832001en.pdf | access-date=2025-05-12}}</ref> shelling residential areas<ref name=AMNbrok/> including the use of up to one-ton bombs over densely populated civilian areas,<ref name = HAAhigh>{{cite web | last=Levy-Barzilai | first=Vered | title=The high and the mighty  | website=haaretz.com | date=2003-12-06 | url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=200053&contrassID=1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031008061808/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=200053&contrassID=1 | archive-date=2003-10-08 | url-status=dead | access-date=2025-05-12}}</ref> extrajudicial assassinations,<ref name=AMNbrok/><ref name = HAAhigh/> setting up checkpoints,<ref name=AMNbrok/> imposing curfews,<ref name=AMNbrok/>  and collective punishment through the demolition of Palestinian homes and orchards[.<ref name=AMNbrok/>  The tactics used by Israel throughout the second intifada have been criticized by human rights groups as tantamount to war crimes, and resulted in the deaths of many civilians, including women and children.<ref name=AMNbrok/> 

===Palestinians===
Militant groups involved in violence include [[Hamas]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement|Palestinian Islamic Jihad]], [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) and the [[al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]]. The most lethal Palestinian tactic was the [[Suicide attack|suicide bombing]] (''see [[List of Palestinian militant groups suicide attacks|List]]''). Conducted as a single or double bombing, suicide bombings were generally conducted against "soft" targets, 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) targeted civilians, and were conducted in crowded places in Israeli cities, such as public transport, restaurants, shopping malls and markets.

One major development was the use of [[Child suicide bombers in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict|suicide bombs carried by children]]. Unlike most suicide bombings, the use of these 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. The youngest Palestinian [[Child suicide bombers in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict|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. The youngest attempted suicide bombing was by a 14-year-old captured by soldiers at the [[Huwwara Checkpoint|Huwwara checkpoint]] before managing to do any harm.

Militant groups also waged a high-intensity campaign of [[guerrilla warfare]] against Israeli military and civilian targets inside Israel and in the Palestinian Territories, utilizing tactics such as [[ambush]]es, [[sniper|sniper attacks]], and [[suicide bombing]]s. Military equipment was mostly imported, while some light arms, hand grenades and [[explosive belt]]s, [[assault rifle]]s, and [[Qassam rocket]]s were indigenously produced. They also increased use of remote-controlled [[land mine|landmines]] against Israeli armor, a tactic that was highly popular among the poorly armed groups. [[Car bomb]]s were often used against "lightly hardened" targets such as Israeli armored jeeps and checkpoints. Also, more than 1,500 Palestinian [[drive-by shooting]]s killed 75 people in only the first year of the Intifada.<ref name="Luft">{{cite journal |author=Luft |first=Gal |date=July–August 2002 |title=The Palestinian H-Bomb: Terror's Winning Strategy |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/58028/gal-luft/the-palestinian-h-bomb-terrors-winning-strategy |url-status=live |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=81 |pages=2–7 |doi=10.2307/20033234 |jstor=20033234 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028183847/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/58028/gal-luft/the-palestinian-h-bomb-terrors-winning-strategy |archive-date=28 October 2014 |access-date=28 September 2014 |number=4}}</ref>

In May 2004, Israel Defense minister [[Shaul Mofaz]] claimed that [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East]]'s ambulances were used to take the bodies of dead Israeli soldiers in order to prevent the [[Israel Defense Forces]] from recovering their dead.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 2004 |publisher=[[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center]] at the [[Center for Special Studies]] (C.S.S) |title=Terrorist organizations exploit UNRWA vehicles: during the Israeli army operation in the Zeitun quarter of Gaza, UNWRA vehicles were used to smuggle armed terrorists out of the area and in all probability remains of Israeli soldiers as well |url=http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/5_04/unrwa.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603110926/http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/5_04/unrwa.htm |archive-date=3 June 2004}}</ref> Reuters has provided video of healthy armed men entering ambulance with UN markings for transport. [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East|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 said that an advanced explosives-detection device employed by the IDF at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus discovered a Palestinian ambulance had transported explosive material.

Some of the Palestinian reaction to Israeli policy in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]] has consisted of non-violent protest,<ref>{{cite news |author=Snitz |first=Kobi |date=15 December 2004 |title=We are all Ahmed Awwad: Lessons in Popular Resistance |publisher=[[Znet]] |url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=6874 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20050418102307/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=6874 |archive-date=18 April 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Palestinian Nonviolent Resistance to Occupation Since 1967 |work=Faces of Hope |date=Fall 2005 |publisher=American Friends Service Committee |url=http://www.afsc.org/israel-palestine/documents/PalestinianNonviolentResistancetooccupaltion.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107200955/http://www.afsc.org/israel-palestine/documents/PalestinianNonviolentResistancetooccupaltion.pdf |archive-date=7 November 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://qumsiyeh.org/palestiniannonviolentresistance/ |title=Palestinian non-violent resistance |publisher=Mazin Qumsiyeh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040827021730/http://qumsiyeh.org/palestiniannonviolentresistance/ |archive-date=27 August 2004}}</ref> primarily in and near the village of [[Bil'in]]. Groups such as the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement, which works out of Beit Sahour, formally encourage and organize non-violent resistance.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Maxine |url=http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v20n4p22.htm |title=Peace Magazine v20n4p22: A Glimpse of Palestinian Nonviolence |work=[[Peace Magazine]] |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-date=7 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207034922/http://www.peacemagazine.org/archive/v20n4p22.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Other groups, such as the [[International Solidarity Movement]] openly advocate non-violent resistance. Some of these activities are done in cooperation with internationals and Israelis, such as the weekly protests against the [[Israeli West Bank Barrier]] carried out in villages like Bi'lin,<ref>{{cite news |last=Elmer |first=Jon |url=http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2248 |title=Protest, Grief as Barrier Segregates Palestinian Village from Farms |publisher=[[The NewStandard]] |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805030532/http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2248 |archive-date=5 August 2011 }}</ref> Biddu<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ramallahonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1902 |title=News From Within-> Home Numbers |date=13 June 2001 |access-date=14 September 2014 |archive-date=30 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930202206/http://www.ramallahonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1902 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Budrus.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=7463 |publisher=[[ZNet]] |title=Budrus has a hammer |date=17 March 2005 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20050418120156/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=7463 |archive-date=18 April 2005}}</ref> This model of resistance has spread to other villages like Beit Sira,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.palestinemonitor.org/nueva_web/updates_news/updates/beit_sira_experience.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060527050519/http://www.palestinemonitor.org/nueva_web/updates_news/updates/beit_sira_experience.htm|archive-date=27 May 2006 |title=Palestinian non-violent resistance continues: the experience of Beit Sira |publisher=[[Palestine Monitor]] |date=21 February 2006}}</ref> Hebron, Saffa, and Ni'lein.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jumá |first=Jamal |author-link=Jamal Jumá |date=26 March 2005 |title=The great divide |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/03/26/stories/2005032602051000.htm |url-status=usurped |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606202955/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/03/26/stories/2005032602051000.htm |archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Jamal Jumá |date=7–13 April 2005 |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/737/re2.htm |newspaper=[[Al-Ahram]] |title=Palestine is not for sale! |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125223406/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/737/re2.htm |archive-date=25 January 2012 |author-link=Jamal Jumá }}</ref> During the Israeli re-invasion of Jenin and Nablus, "A Call for a Non-violent Resistance Strategy in Palestine" was issued by two Palestinian Christians in May 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncccusa.org/news/02news49.html |title=Palestinian Christians Call for Non-Violent Resistance |publisher=[[National Council of Churches]] |date=10 May 2002 |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-date=26 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926225228/http://www.ncccusa.org/news/02news49.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Non-violent tactics have sometimes been met with Israeli military force. For example, Amnesty International notes that "10-year-old Naji Abu Qamer, 11-year-old Mubarak Salim al-Hashash and 13-year-old Mahmoud Tariq Mansour were among eight unarmed demonstrators killed in the early afternoon of May 19, 2004 in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, when the Israeli army open fire on a non-violent demonstration with tank shells and a missile launched from a helicopter gunship. Dozens of other unarmed demonstrators were wounded in the attack." According to Israeli army and government officials, the tanks shelled a nearby empty building and a helicopter fired a missile in a nearby open space in order to deter the demonstrators from proceeding towards Israeli army positions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/002/2004/en/ |title=Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Act Now to Stop the Killing of Children! |publisher=Amnesty International |date=20 November 2004 |access-date=19 November 2018 |archive-date=22 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122054932/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde02/002/2004/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Israel===
[[File:IDF-D9-Zachi-Evenor-001.jpg|thumb|250px|[[IDF Caterpillar D9]] [[armoured bulldozer]]. Military experts cited the D9 as a key factor in keeping IDF casualties low.]]
[[File:AH-64Apache004.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF) [[AH-64 Apache]] were used as platform for shooting [[guided missile]]s at Palestinian targets and employed at the [[targeted killing]]s policy against senior militants and terrorists leaders.]]

The [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) countered Palestinian attacks with incursions against militant targets into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, adopting highly effective [[urban warfare|urban combat]] tactics. The IDF stressed the safety of their troops, using such heavily armored equipment as the [[Merkava]] heavy tank and armored personnel carriers, and carried out airstrikes with various military aircraft including [[F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16s]], [[unmanned aerial vehicle|drone aircraft]] and [[Attack helicopter|helicopter gunships]] to strike militant targets. Much of the ground fighting was conducted house-to-house by well-armed and well-trained infantry. Due to its superior training, equipment, and numbers, the IDF had the upper hand during street fighting. Palestinian armed groups suffered heavy losses during combat, but the operations were often criticized internationally due to the civilian casualties often caused. Palestinian metalworking shops and other business facilities suspected by Israel of being used to manufacture weapons were regularly targeted by airstrikes, as well as Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels.

Israeli [[IDF Caterpillar D9|Caterpillar D9]] [[armored bulldozer]]s were routinely employed to detonate [[booby trap]]s and [[Improvised explosive device|IEDs]], to demolish houses along the border with Egypt that were used for shooting at Israeli troops, to create "buffer zones", and to support military operations in the West Bank. Until February 2005, Israel had in place a policy to demolish the family homes of suicide bombers after giving them a notice to evacuate. Due to the considerable number of Palestinians living in single homes, the large quantity of homes destroyed, and collateral damage from home demolitions, it became an increasingly controversial tactic. Families began providing timely information to Israeli forces regarding suicide bombing activities in order to prevent the demolition of their homes, although families doing so risked being executed or otherwise punished for [[collaborationism|collaboration]], either by the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]] or extrajudicially by Palestinian militants. The IDF committee studying the issue recommended ending the practice because the policy was not effective enough to justify its costs to Israel's image internationally and the backlash it created among Palestinians.<ref>[[Gabi Siboni]], [http://www.inss.org.il/uploadimages/Import/(FILE)1298360394.pdf Defeating Suicide Terrorism in Judea and Samaria, 2002–2005] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820032626/http://www.inss.org.il/uploadimages/Import/(FILE)1298360394.pdf |date=20 August 2016 }}, "'''[[Institute for National Security Studies (Israel)|Military and Strategic Affairs]]'''", Volume 2, No. 2, October 2010.</ref>

With complete ground and air superiority, mass arrests were regularly conducted by Israeli military and police forces; at any given time, there were about 6,000 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons, about half of them held temporarily without a final indictment, in accordance with Israeli law.

The tactic of military "[[curfew]]" – long-term lockdown of civilian areas – was used extensively by Israel throughout the Intifada. The longest curfew was in [[Nablus]], which 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.

Security [[Israel Defense Forces checkpoint|checkpoints]] and roadblocks were erected inside and between Palestinian cities, subjecting all people and vehicles to security inspection for free passage. Israel defended those checkpoints as being necessary to stop militants and limit the ability to move weapons around. However some Palestinian, Israeli and International observers and organizations have criticized the checkpoints as excessive, humiliating, and a major cause of the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Territories. Transit could be delayed by several hours, depending on the security situation in Israel. Sniper towers were used extensively in the Gaza Strip before the Israeli [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan|pullout]].

The Israeli intelligence services [[Shin Bet]] and [[Mossad]] penetrated Palestinian militant organizations by relying on moles and sources within armed groups, tapping communication lines, and aerial reconnaissance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polis.leeds.ac.uk/assets/files/research/working-papers/wp16jones.pdf |publisher=School of Politics and International Studies |title=School of Politics and International Studies – Site Homepage }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The intelligence gathered allowed the IDF, [[Israel Border Police]], and [[Israel Police]], including [[Yamam]] and [[Mistaravim]] special forces units, to thwart hundreds of planned suicide bombings. The intelligence gathered also helped create a list of Palestinians marked for targeted killings.

Israel extensively used [[Israeli targeted killings|targeted killings]], the assassinations of Palestinians involved in organizing attacks against Israelis, to eliminate imminent threats and to deter others from following suit, relying primarily on airstrikes and covert operations to carry them out. The strategy of targeted killings had been proposed by Shin Bet, which determined that while it was impossible to stop every single suicide bomber, suicide bombings could be stopped by directly attacking the conspiratorial infrastructure behind them by killing operational commanders, recruiters, couriers, weapons procurers, maintainers of safehouses, and smugglers of money which financed the bombings.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bergman |first=Ronen |date=3 February 2018 |title=How Israel Won a War but Paid a High Moral Price |work=[[Foreign Policy]] |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/02/03/how-israel-won-the-war-against-suicide-bombers-but-lost-its-moral-compass-ronen-bergman/ |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929192845/https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/02/03/how-israel-won-the-war-against-suicide-bombers-but-lost-its-moral-compass-ronen-bergman/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Israel was criticized for the use of [[Attack helicopter|helicopter gunships]] in urban assassinations, which often resulted in civilian casualties. Israel criticized what it described as a practice of militant leaders hiding among civilians in densely populated areas, thus turning them into unwitting [[human shield]]s. Throughout the Intifada, the Palestinian leadership suffered heavy losses through targeted killings.

The practice has been widely condemned as extrajudicial executions by the international community,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Milanovic|first1=Marko|title=Lessons for human rights and humanitarian law in the war on terror: comparing Hamdan and the Israeli Targeted Killings case|journal=International Review of the Red Cross|date=June 2007|volume=89|issue=866|page=375|doi=10.1017/S181638310700104X|s2cid=146130526|url=https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc_866_milanovic.pdf|access-date=9 July 2015|archive-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710155808/https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/irrc_866_milanovic.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8060&Cr=middle&Cr1=east |title=UN envoy condemns Israel's extra-judicial assassinations |date=25 August 2003 |publisher=UN News Centre |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=12 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712161928/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8060&Cr=middle&Cr1=east |url-status=live }}</ref> while the Israeli High Court ruled that it is a legitimate measure of [[self-defense]] against terrorism.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Scott |date=15 December 2006 |title=Israeli High Court Backs Military On Its Policy of 'Targeted Killings' |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121400430.html |access-date=11 September 2017 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020081147/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121400430.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Many{{Who|date=May 2010}} criticize the targeted killings for placing civilians at risk, though its supporters believe it reduces civilian casualties on both sides.

In response to repeated rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, the [[Israeli Navy]] imposed a [[2007-present blockade of the Gaza Strip|maritime blockade]] on the area. Israel also sealed the border and closed Gaza's airspace in coordination with [[Egypt]], and subjected all humanitarian supplies entering the Strip to security inspection before transferring them through land crossings. Construction materials were declared banned due to their possible use to build bunkers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/world/middleeast/26mideast.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Sabrina |last=Tavernise |author-link=Sabrina Tavernise |title=In Gaza, the Wait to Rebuild Lingers |date=26 January 2009 |page=A6 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=16 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216143032/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/world/middleeast/26mideast.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The blockade has been internationally criticized as a form of "[[collective punishment]]" against Gaza's civilian population.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-30214320071029 |work=Reuters |title=EU warns against 'collective punishment' in Gaza |date=29 October 2007 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102113653/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-30214320071029 |url-status=dead }}</ref>