A/HRC/12/48 page 47 of Israel agreed to recognize each other and signed the “Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements” also known as the “Oslo I Accord”.8 179. In 1994 the Palestinian Authority was established following the Oslo I Accord and in 1995 “the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”, also known as “Oslo II”,9 detailed practical steps to be implemented by the parties in view of the negotiations on the final status of the territory. The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an Israeli extremist in 1995 dealt a lethal blow to the peace process. Successive Israeli Governments and the Palestinian political leadership failed to reach an agreement on the final status at the United States-sponsored Camp David summit in 2000 and during direct talks in Taba (Egypt) in 2001. 180. A second popular uprising erupted in September 2000, after the then opposition leader Ariel Sharon conducted a controversial visit to the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem.10 This second intifada set off an unprecedented cycle of violence. 181. According to independent sources, while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict claimed the lives of 1,549 Palestinians and 421 Israelis between 1987 and 2000,11 between September 2000 and December 2008, 5,500 Palestinians were killed (593 as result of intra-Palestinian violence) as well as 1,062 Israelis and 64 foreigners.12 182. According to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 154 suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel took place between 1993 and 2007. They killed 542 individuals, The Agreement contained a specific provision for the establishment of a “strong police force” to “guarantee public order and internal security for the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”. See http://www.reliefweb.int/ rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MHII-62DANP?OpenDocument. 8 The Agreement defined three areas of jurisdiction in Gaza and the West Bank: area “A”, in which Palestinians would have full administrative and security responsibilities; area “B”, in which Palestinians would have administrative responsibilities, but Israelis would retain security control; and area “C”, where Israelis would maintain administrative and security responsibilities. See http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MHII62DAP5?OpenDocument. 9 Situated at the heart of the Old City in East Jerusalem, the site is of religious significance to both Muslims and Jews. The Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) is the location of al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques, the third most sacred place in Islam. It is also believed to be the location of the two ancient Jewish temples. The southern section of its western external perimeter is what is known as the Western Wall. Haram alSharif is administered by an Islamic trust (Waqf) and religious rituals performed there by non-Muslims are forbidden. 10 See B’Tselem statistics (“Fatalities in the first Intifada”), available at: http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/ First_Intifada_Tables.asp. 11 12 See B’Tselem statistics (“Fatalities”), available at: http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp