Following the failure of the Oslo Accords, Likud leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. This triggered a Palestinian civilian uprising to which Israeli forces responded with extreme force, escalating into a conflict that ran 2000-2005 and cost around 4000 lives (3000 Palestinians and 1000 Israelis).
In the aftermath, Fatah lost the 2006 general elections to Hamas and refused to recognize the result. In the ensuing civil war, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and the PA under Fatah retained the West Bank.