Editing Gaza Strip (section)

===2000: Second Intifada===
{{Main|Second Intifada}}
[[File:IDF-D9-demolishes-Palestinian-structure-01.jpg|thumb|An [[IDF Caterpillar D9]] [[armored bulldozer]] demolishing a house in the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada]]
The Second Intifada was a major [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] uprising in the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli-occupied]] [[Palestinian territories]] and Israel. The general triggers for the unrest are speculated to have been centred on the failure of the [[2000 Camp David Summit]], which was expected to reach a final agreement on the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process]] in July 2000.{{sfn|Pressman|2003|p=114}} Outbreaks of violence began in September 2000, after [[Ariel Sharon]], then the [[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Israeli opposition leader]], made a provocative visit to the [[Al-Aqsa]] compound on the [[Temple Mount]] in [[Jerusalem]];{{sfn|Pressman|2003|p=114}} the visit itself was peaceful, but, as anticipated, sparked protests and riots that Israeli police put down with rubber bullets and tear gas.{{sfn|Byman|2011|p=114}} The Second Intifada also marked the beginning of rocket attacks and bombings of Israeli border localities by Palestinian guerrillas from the Gaza Strip, especially by the [[Hamas]] and [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] movements.

High numbers of casualties were caused among civilians as well as combatants. Israeli forces engaged in gunfire, [[Targeted killings by the Israel Defense Forces|targeted killings]], and tank and aerial attacks, while Palestinians engaged in [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|suicide bombings]], gunfire, [[Palestinian stone-throwing|stone-throwing]], and [[Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel|rocket attacks]].<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Samy |chapter=Botched Engagement in the Intifada |date=2010 |title=Israel's Asymmetric Wars |pages=73–91 |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |doi=10.1057/9780230112971_6 |isbn=978-1-349-28896-0}}"The al-Aqsa Intifada ushered in an era with a new brand of violence.1 It began with a popular uprising following Ariel Sharon's visit to Temple Mount on September 28, 2000. But unlike the first Intifada, which was basically a civil uprising against the symbols of an occupation that has lasted since June 1967, the second Intifada very quickly lapsed into an armed struggle between Palestinian activists and the Israeli armed forces. Almost from the very start, armed men took to hiding among crowds of Palestinians, using them as cover to shoot from. The IDF retaliated forcefully, each time causing several casualties."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kober |first=Avi |date=2007 |title=Targeted Killing during the Second Intifada:: The Quest for Effectiveness |url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jcs/2009-v29-jcs_27_1/jcs27_1_1art06/ |journal=Journal of Conflict Studies |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=94–114 |issn=1198-8614 |quote=Based on the assumption that there was no longer one front or one line of contact, Israel was carrying out dozens of simultaneous operations on the ground and in the air on a daily basis, including TKs, which were supposed to have multi-dimensional effects. According to Byman, TKs were mostly attractive to Israelis as they satisfied domestic demands for a forceful response to Palestinian terrorism. Byman also believes that by bolstering public morale, the TKs helped counter one of the terrorists' primary objectives – to reduce the faith of Israelis in their own government. |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405160428/https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/jcs/2009-v29-jcs_27_1/jcs27_1_1art06/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Palestinian suicide bombings were a prominent feature of the fighting and mainly targeted Israeli civilians, contrasting with the relatively less violent nature of the [[First Intifada]].<ref name="NMRR">{{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 |journal=European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie |language=en |volume=57 |issue=1 |page=66 |doi=10.1017/S0003975616000035 |s2cid=146939293 |issn=0003-9756 |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. |access-date=5 April 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |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 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>
*{{Cite journal |last1=Brym |first1=R. J. |last2=Araj |first2=B. |date=2006-06-01 |title=Suicide Bombing as Strategy and Interaction: The Case of the Second Intifada |journal=Social Forces |volume=84 |issue=4 |page=1969 |doi=10.1353/sof.2006.0081 |s2cid=146180585 |issn=0037-7732 |quote=In the early years of the 21st century, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza became the region of the world with the highest frequency of - and the highest per capita death toll due to - suicide bombing.}}
*Schweitzer, Y. (2010). The rise and fall of suicide bombings in the second Intifada. ''Strategic Assessment'', ''13''(3), 39–48. "As part of the violence perpetrated by the Palestinians during the second intifada, suicide bombings played a particularly prominent role and served as the primary effective weapon in the hands of the planners."
*Schachter, J. (2010). [https://strategicassessment.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/antq/fe-3427267573.pdf The End of the Second Intifada?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930061049/https://strategicassessment.inss.org.il/wp-content/uploads/antq/fe-3427267573.pdf |date=30 September 2021 }}. ''Strategic Assessment'', ''13''(3), 63–70. "This article attempts to identify the end of the second intifada by focusing on the incidence of suicide bombings, arguably the most important element of second intifada-related violence."
*Sela-Shayovitz, R. (2007). Suicide bombers in Israel: Their motivations, characteristics, and prior activity in terrorist organizations. ''International Journal of Conflict and Violence (IJCV)'', ''1''(2), 163. "The period of the second Intifada significantly differs from other historical periods in Israeli history, because it has been characterized by intensive and numerous suicide attacks that have made civilian life into a battlefront."</ref> With a combined casualty figure for combatants and civilians, the violence is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners.<ref name=casualties2005>[http://old.btselem.org/statistics/english/Casualties.asp?sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=15&eM=1&eY=2005&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before B'Tselem – Statistics – Fatalities 29.9.2000–15.1.2005], [[B'Tselem]]. {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20130414103627/http://old.btselem.org/statistics/english/Casualties.asp?sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=15&eM=1&eY=2005&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before |date=14 April 2013 }}</ref>

Between December 2000 and June 2001, the barrier between Gaza and Israel was reconstructed. A barrier on the Gaza Strip-Egypt border was constructed starting in 2004.<ref name="Anne Barnard">{{Cite news |title=Life in Gaza Steadily Worsens |first=Anne |last=Barnard |work=The Boston Globe |date=22 October 2006 |url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/10/22/life_in_gaza_steadily_worsens/ |access-date=16 April 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235137/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/10/22/life_in_gaza_steadily_worsens/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The main crossing points are the northern [[Erez Crossing]] into Israel and the southern [[Rafah Border Crossing|Rafah Crossing]] into Egypt. The eastern [[Karni crossing|Karni Crossing]] used for cargo, closed down in 2011.<ref name="Greg Myre">{{Cite news |title=Gaza Crossing:Choked Passages to Frustration |first=Greg |last=Myre |work=The New York Times |date=4 March 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/international/middleeast/04gaza.html |access-date=16 February 2017 |archive-date=6 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106110814/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/international/middleeast/04gaza.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Israel controls the Gaza Strip's northern borders, as well as its territorial waters and airspace. Egypt controls Gaza Strip's southern border, under an agreement between it and Israel.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5122404.stm |title=Gaza crisis: key maps and timeline |work=BBC News |date=6 January 2009 |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-date=25 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125084904/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5122404.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Neither Israel or Egypt permits free travel from Gaza as both borders are heavily militarily fortified. "Egypt maintains a strict blockade on Gaza in order to isolate Hamas from Islamist insurgents in the Sinai."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182738#.U8LcArFhs6I |title=Egypt Opens Gaza Border Crossing for the Injured – Middle East – Arutz Sheva |date=10 July 2014 |publisher=Israelnationalnews.com |access-date=2014-08-02 |archive-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713002958/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182738#.U8LcArFhs6I |url-status=live }}</ref>