第2次インティファーダ
One major development was the use of 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 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 before managing to do any harm.
2002年1月、イスラエル国防軍のシャイェテット・13海軍部隊は、イランからイスラエル方面に向けて武器を運搬していた貨物船カリーヌAを拿捕した。その後パレスチナ自治政府の幹部が密輸に関与していたことが判明し、イスラエル側はヤセル・アラファトも関与していると主張した。
パレスチナ人はイスラエルに対して、主に民間人を狙った自爆テロや攻撃を相次いで開始した。3月3日、パレスチナのスナイパーがヨルダン川西岸地区北部に位置するイスラエルの入植地オフラ(英語版)近くの検問所でU.S.M1カービンを用いてイスラエル兵と入植者10人を殺害し、4人を負傷させた。実行犯は後に逮捕され、終身刑を言い渡された。攻撃の頻度は増加し、2002年3月に最高となった。
多数の銃撃や手榴弾による攻撃に加え、この月はイスラエル国内で15件の自爆テロが発生した。これは2日に1件の割合であり、頻発する攻撃はイスラエル全土に恐怖を拡大させて日常生活に深刻な混乱をもたらし、2002年3月はイスラエルにおいては「黒い3月」として知られるようになった。3月12日、国連安全保障理事会決議1397(英語版)が採択されると、二国家解決が再確認され、平和のためのロードマップ(英語版)の基礎が築かれた。
3月27日、ネタニヤのパークホテルで過越を祝っている最中に自爆テロが起き、テロの波は民間人30人の死亡と140人以上が負傷するという形で頂点に達した。
B'Tselem reports that through 30 April 2008, there were 4,745 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, and 44 Palestinians killed by Israeli civilians. B'Tselem also reports 577 Palestinians killed by Palestinians through 30 April 2008.
Between September 2000 and January 2005, 69 percent of Israeli fatalities were male, while over 95 percent of the Palestinian fatalities were male. "Remember These Children" reports that as of 1 February 2008, 119 Israeli children, age 17 and under, had been killed by Palestinians. Over the same time period, 982 Palestinian children, age 17 and under, were killed by Israelis.
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. The blockade has been internationally criticized as a form of "collective punishment" against Gaza's civilian population.
Although Israel's tactics also have been condemned internationally, Israel insists they are vital for security reasons in order to thwart terrorist attacks. Some cite figures, such as those published in Haaretz newspaper, to prove the effectiveness of these methods (Graph 1: Thwarted attacks (yellow) vs successful attacks (red) – Graph 2: Suicide bombing within the "green line" per quarter).
Concerning the killing of Palestinians by other Palestinians, a January 2003 The Humanist magazine article reports:
... According to Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World 2001–2002, the chaotic nature of the Intifada along with strong Israeli reprisals has resulted in a deterioration of living conditions for Palestinians in Israeli-administered areas. The survey states:
Internal Palestinian violence has been called an 'Intra'fada during this Intifada and the previous one.
The casualty data for the Second Intifada has been reported by a variety of sources and though there is general agreement regarding the overall number of dead, the statistical picture is blurred by disparities in how different types of casualties are counted and categorized.
The sources do not vary widely over the data on Israeli casualties. B'Tselem reports that 1,053 Israelis were killed by Palestinian attacks through 30 April 2008. Israeli journalist Ze'ev Schiff reported similar numbers citing the Shin Bet as his source in an August 2004 Haaretz article where he noted: