Wilderness Survival Foreign Terrorist Organizations Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
| Menu | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| sponsors |
|---|
|
|
| Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade |
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 06 October 2004 | |
 Al-Aqsa Martyrs BrigadeName(s). al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade; al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalion Goals and Objectives. Al-Aqsa aims to expel Israeli soldiers and settlers from the West Bank and Gaza, and to establish a Palestinian state. Favored Tactics. Al-Aqsa uses many tactics, including suicide bombings (including by women), knifings, shootings, and kidnappings. Brief History. Al-Aqsa is an offshoot of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah, and emerged just after the start of the second Intifada in September 2000. The organization’s goals are to create a Palestinian state and eliminate the presence of Israeli soldiers and settlers in the Palestinian- occupied territories.The group is secular in theory, but has been known to recruit young militants espousing Islamic fundamentalism. Unlike Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa does not claim to be intent on destroying the state of Israel.
Initially, al-Aqsa militants exclusively attacked Israeli Defense Force and Israeli settlers, but experts say that by early 2002 al- Aqsa began targeting civilians in Israel. This shift may have been due to the heightened intensity of the Intifada, including the increased death toll of Palestinians and what al- Aqsa militants believe to be Israel’s "targeted killing" of the group’s West Bank leader, Raed Karmi, on January 14, 2002. Since then, al-Aqsa’s attacks have become more severe, and in January 2002 the group introduced the use of female suicide bombers. In January 2003, al-Aqsa militants conducted two suicide bombings in downtown Tel Aviv that killed 23 people and wounded approximately 100. 
Since the start of the second Intifada, al-Aqsa militants have executed more attacks than even Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. While other Palestinian groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah agreed to observe a cease-fire in June 2003, al-Aqsa refused to do so. Less than 24 hours after the other groups declared the cease-fire, al-Aqsa killed a Romanian worker on a settlement road near Jenin in the West Bank. Favored Tactics. Al-Aqsa uses many tactics, including suicide bombings (including by women), knifings, shootings, and kidnappings.
Strength and Composition. According to the State Department, the number of members in al-Aqsa is unknown. Some experts estimate that the group consists of a few hundred young men and women. Connections with Other Groups. Al-Aqsa’s connection with Yasir Arafat’s Fatah — the largest faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization — is murky. Some Israeli experts and the government itself assert that al- Aqsa is clearly linked with Yasser Arafat and Fatah. They cite as proof Israeli intelligence acquisition of an apparent al- Aqsa invoice, addressed to the Palestinian Authority (PA) chief financial officer. In their view, this intelligence suggests that al- Aqsa militants are "on the Palestinian Authority’s payroll, [al-Aqsa’s] activities are financed out of Palestinian Authority coffers, and its attacks are carried out with the knowledge and backing of Yasser Arafat’s inner circle." Al-Aqsa has sometimes cooperated operationally with both Hamas and Palestinian Jihad. Originally Designated as an FTO. March 27, 2002. Issues of Concern for Congress. Since early 2002, this group has killed a significant number of civilians in Israel. Its use of suicide attacks has been particularly frequent and deadly. The question of whether or not Yasir Arafat and the Palestinian Authority provide money for this group (see above) will continue to be controversial. This group’s violent activities, and the Israeli response to them, may continue to affect the viability of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
|
Aqsa’s funding is unclear. The sophistication of al- Aqsa attacks suggests that the group is well funded. Israeli forces claim to have recovered an invoice from a raid on PLO head Yasir Arafat’s compound in April 2002 that outlines the disbursing of funds from the PLO to the al-Aqsa Brigades. Israel claims that the invoice conclusively proves Yassir Arafat’s money supports for the group. However, Arafat has dismissed the "invoice of terror" as a forgery. Yasser Arafat has neither "officially recognized nor openly backed" al- Aqsa.
| recommended |
|---|
|
|
