Strategic Assessment

This essay presents an overview of the events surrounding the Palestinian uprising that erupted in September 2000. It outlines several key chronological stages of the al-Aqsa intifada as defined by their political and military features, and then offers a balance sheet of the past decade from the Palestinian and Israeli perspectives. It considers the overall implications of the struggle for both sides and its incorporation into their respective narratives, and sketches three leading possible scenarios on the future evolution of relations between Israel and the Palestinians.