The failure of peace talks at the Camp David summit meeting in July 2000 caused tension to rise in the West Bank. Opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount and hundreds of Palestinians rioted, throwing stones at worshipers at the Western Wall. Security forces responded with live fire, killing four Palestinians and injuring about 200. News of the events spread quickly, leading to a wave of riots in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Initially there were spontaneous protests and then organized riots, with armed Palestinians shooting at IDF forces, who responded by shooting back.

On September 30, a video of the death of a Palestinian child, Muhammad al-Durrah, allegedly caused by IDF fire at the Netzarim Junction, circulated widely. It sparked outrage both locally and internationally, making al-Durrah a symbol of the Palestinian "struggle." 

On October 1, Palestinian rioters attacked the Jewish prayer site at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus. In the ensuing battle, soldier Madhat Yusuf was wounded and bled to death because he could not be evacuated.

On October 12, two Israeli reserve soldiers mistakenly drove into Ramallah and were murdered. An enraged crowd broke into the police station where they were being held, beat them to death, threw their bodies out the window and subsequently desecrated them. Images of the laughing murderers holding their blood-stained hands out the window shocked and outraged Israel.

In October, Israeli Arabs began large-scale solidarity protests with the Palestinians, which quickly turned violent. Police responded with live fire at the protesters and rioters, resulting in the deaths of 13 Israeli Arabs, causing significant tension between the Arab and Jewish populations in Israel. The second intifada lasted approximately five years, gradually subsiding by 2005. It is estimated that it left more than 1,100 Israelis dead and about 8,000 injured