The First Intifada

The proximate causes of the First Intifada were intensified Israeli land expropriation and settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after the electoral victory of the right-wing Likud party in 1977; increasing Israeli repression in response to heightened Palestinian protests following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982; the emergence of a new cadre of local Palestinian activists who challenged the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a process aided by Israel’s stepped-up attempts to curb political activism and break the PLO’s ties to the occupied territories in the early 1980s; and, in reaction to the invasion of Lebanon, the emergence of a strong peace camp on the Israeli side, which many Palestinians thought provided a basis for change in Israeli policy.

Most of the Palestinian rioting took place during the intifada’s first year, after which the Palestinians shifted from throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli targets to attacking them with rifles, hand grenades, and explosives. The shift occurred mainly because of the severity of Israeli military and police reprisals, which intensified after Palestinian attacks became more violent. According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, nearly 2,000 deaths due to violence occurred during the first intifada; the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths was slightly more than 3 to 1.

With the intifada proving to be politically and economically damaging to Israel, a new Israeli government was elected in 1992 with a mandate to negotiate for peace. In the following year, secret talks between Israel and the PLO under the auspices of the Norwegian government resulted in the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements signed in 1993–95. The accords reiterated the PLO’s 1988 commitments, and Israel recognized the PLO as the Palestinian people’s legitimate representative, agreed to withdraw in stages from areas of the West Bank and Gaza, and allowed the creation of a Palestinian Authority to govern those areas. Outstanding matters in achieving a two-state solution were to be settled over the next five years.

With the intifada proving to be politically and economically damaging to Israel, a new Israeli government was elected in 1992 with a mandate to negotiate for peace. In the following year, secret talks between Israel and the PLO under the auspices of the Norwegian government resulted in the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements signed in 1993–95. The accords reiterated the PLO’s 1988 commitments, and Israel recognized the PLO as the Palestinian people’s legitimate representative, agreed to withdraw in stages from areas of the West Bank and Gaza, and allowed the creation of a Palestinian Authority to govern those areas. Outstanding matters in achieving a two-state solution were to be settled over the next five years.