The Second Intifada: When Hope for Peace Died | History of Israel Explained | Unpacked

Violence broke out in September 2000. The next four-and-a-half years were some of the bloodiest in Israel’s history and have become known as the Second Intifada, the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the Oslo War and Arafat’s War.

No matter what name you give to this period, nothing can take away from the horror and bloodshed that assailed Israel on an almost daily basis. And nothing more clearly symbolizes the violent and volatile nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But how did the Intifada or uprising begin? What does Oslo have to do with Middle East peace (or the lack of it)? And why did a politician’s visit to the Temple Mount spark enough outrage to set the Palestinian people aflame?

In one of the toughest stories we’ve covered in this series, we take a painful look at the key incidents and occurrences of the early 2000s as we unpack the origins of the Second Intifada.