From Disturbances to War

Abstract

In a press conference held on November 15, 2000, Colonel Daniel Reisner, head of the international law branch of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), provided illuminating data about the disturbances in the territories. Up to that point, he said, there had been 1,351 armed attacks on Israeli targets and 3,734 attacks without live weapons. ¹ So it is clear, even from IDF statistics, that 73 percent of the violent events in the first phase of the intifada did not involve shooting by the Palestinians. ² To quell the demonstrations, the Israeli troops used stun grenades, teargas, and rubber-coated bullets. Very soon, though, they switched to live ammunition, even when not in mortal danger (B’Tzelem, 2002a).