The second Palestinian intifada or uprising broke out at the end of September 2000 and is named after the Jerusalem mosque complex where the violence began.
Frustrations that years of the negotiation had failed to deliver a Palestinian state were intensified by the collapse of the Camp David summit in July 2000.
Ariel Sharon, then the leader of Israel's opposition, paid a visit to the site in East Jerusalem known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, which houses the al-Aqsa mosque - and frustration boiled over into violence.
The timeline below highlights the key events.
Durrah was one of eight Palestinian children killed in the first three days
28 September: Ariel Sharon's visit to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount - against the background of the failure of the peace process - provides one of the sparks that ignites a cycle of violence.
30 September: In one of the enduring images of the conflict 12-year-old Muhammad Durrah is killed during a gunbattle between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the Gaza strip, kindling Palestinian anger about the growing number of children killed by Israeli forces. The army initially apologises, but later casts doubt on whether its forces killed the boy.
17 October: The Sharm al-Sheikh agreement, brokered by President Clinton, aims to end the upsurge in violence. It breaks down almost immediately.
6 February: Ariel Sharon elected prime minister of Israel.
18 May: Israel launches F-16 warplanes against Palestinian targets in Gaza for the first time.
Israeli police examine the scene of a Haifa suicide bombing
1 June: Suicide bomb attack on a disco in Tel Aviv leaves 21 people dead and more than 60 others injured. Islamic Jihad says it carried out the attack.
9 August: Fifteen people are killed and about 90 others are injured in a suicide attack on a busy restaurant in the heart of Jerusalem. Hamas says it carried out the attack.
27 August: Israel assassinates People's Liberation Front for Palestine leader Abu Ali Mustafa in a missile strike.
17 October: The PFLP assassinates Israel's tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi.
2 December: A Palestinian suicide bomber blows up a bus in the northern coastal city of Haifa, killing 15 people and wounding more than 100 others.
8 March: The bloodiest day of the intifada so far sees 45 people killed, mostly Palestinians.
27 March: In the Israeli resort of Netanya, a bomber blows himself up at a hotel, killing 28 Israelis celebrating Passover. The attack claimed by the armed wing of Hamas was the deadliest since the beginning of the uprising.
29 March: Israel begins a massive military assault on the West Bank. Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters are targeted and Palestinian militants take refuge in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Heavy fighting goes on for days in the northern West Bank town of Jenin.
7 May: Suicide bomber attacks a social club in the town of Rishon Letzion, killing 16 people and injuring more than 50. The attack is claimed by the armed wing of Hamas.
16 June: Israel begins construction of its West Bank security barrier, a 640-kilometre (440-mile) structure designed to keep Palestinian suicide bombers out of Israel.
A suicide bomber kills himself and 19 civilians in an attack on a bus in southern Jerusalem.
22 July:: Israel kills Hamas military commander Salah Shehada with aircraft bomb dropped on his Gaza housing block; 18 other residents are also killed by the blast.
5 January: At least 23 people are killed and 100 wounded when two suicide attackers set off charges in crowded streets during rush hour in Tel Aviv.
19 March: Mahmoud Abbas agrees to become the first Palestinian prime minister.
30 April: The Quartet group - the EU, UN, Russia and the US - launch the roadmap peace plan. It is a phased programme for ending conflict culminating in the creation of an independent Palestinian state, but the neither side keeps to its timetable.
11 June: Sixteen people are killed in a bus bomb in Jerusalem, in the first suicide attack since US President Bush's peace summit a week before. It follows an Israeli air strike on 10 June aimed at killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in Gaza.
27 June: Palestinian militants announce an agreement with the Palestinian Authority to temporarily halt attacks on Israelis. The "hudna" lasts seven weeks.
20 August: A suicide bomber wrecks a bus in Jerusalem, killing at least 20 people. Palestinian militants claim the attack is carried out in response to Israeli killing of their leaders.
An attacker targeted a popular nightspot in Tel Aviv
9 September: Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas resigns after clashing with Yasser Arafat over reform of security services.
4 October: A suicide bomber blows herself up in a packed Haifa restaurant, killing at least 19 people including three children.
13 October: The Geneva Accords, an alternative peace-plan negotiated by prominent Israelis and Palestinians, is unveiled. The plan is quickly rejected by Israel and Palestinian militants.
29 January: A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 10 in an attack on a west Jerusalem bus.
2 February: Ariel Sharon orders a plan be drawn up to remove Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians attend the funeral of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
22 March: Israel assassinates Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of Hamas, in an air strike.
17 May: Israel assassinates Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi a missile strike.
13 May: Following the killing of 13 soldiers by militants in Gaza, Israel launches a nine-day incursion into the Rafah refugee camp, leaving at least 40 Palestinians dead.
9 July: The International Court of Justice rules that the West Bank barrier is illegal and that construction must be halted.
31 August: Sixteen people are killed in suicide bombings on two buses in the Israeli town of Beersheba.
27 October: Israeli legislators vote in favour of a controversial plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from Gaza.
29 October: Yasser Arafat is airlifted from his West Bank compound in Ramallah to a military hospital in Paris.
11 November: Arafat dies in France aged 75. Israel says his death may be a turning point for peace in the Middle East. Mahmoud Abbas is elected head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
9 January: Palestinians elect Mahmoud Abbas to succeed Yasser Arafat as chairman of the Palestinian Authority.
10 January: Israel's parliament backs a new coalition government, giving Ariel Sharon a firm basis to implement his Gaza pullout plan.
14 January: Israel seals off the Gaza Strip after six Israelis are killed in an attack by Palestinian militants at a major crossing point.
15 January: Mahmoud Abbas is sworn in as the new president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
He uses his inauguration speech to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants.
21 January: Hundreds of Palestinian Authority police take up positions in the northern Gaza Strip to stop militants firing rockets at Israeli targets.
24 January: Following a week of talks between Mr Abbas and militant leaders, the groups say they have agreed to suspend attacks on Israel.
3 February: Israel approves a plan to free hundreds of jailed Palestinians and withdraw forces from West Bank cities.
8 February: After a summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon declare a truce. Both express hopes that the informal ceasefire will lead to a new era of hope for the region.
10 February: Hamas militants fire dozens of mortars and rockets at the Gush Katif settlement after the organisation said it was not bound by the ceasefire. The attacks prompt Mr Abbas to order a security crackdown and sack senior security officials.