AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE

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What is the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade?

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade (Kata'ib Shuhada' al-Aqsa) emerged from Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction of the PLO in 2001, fiercely loyal to Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. The group acts with the help of senior officers of other elements of the Palestinian Authority's armed entities, the Tanzim and Force 17 [all of which report to Yasser Arafat] who have provided illegal weapons, training and intelligence to help carry out the attacks. The brigade works in complete secrecy, probably composed of a few hundred men, operating in cells.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade organized some of the most gruesome terrorist attacks in Israel, especially during the escalation of violence in 2001 and 2002. In that period, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade increased the level of its cooperation with other terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. A number of bombings and shootings were perpetrated by the Al-Aqsa Brigade, individually or in partnership with other terrorist groups, including but not limited to:

• The terrorist who bombed a bus, killing 10 Israeli civilians and wounding 25 (Dec. 10, 2001)
  
  
• The terrorist who sprayed fire from an M-16 at a bat mitzvah celebration in Hadera, killing six people and wounding dozens more (Jan. 17, 2002)
  
  
• The killing of nine people, at least three of them children, in a bomb blast in Jerusalem, timed to catch people after Sabbath services (Mar. 2, 2002)
  
  
• The sniper who killed 10 soldiers and civilians at a checkpoint in the deadliest of a two-day string of Palestinian attacks that killed 21 Israelis (Mar. 3-4, 2002)
  
  
• The gunfire and grenade attack on cars and pedestrians that killed an infant girl and a 27-year-old man, and injured about 50 people, several seriously, in the coastal city of Netanya (Mar.9, 2002)
  
  
• The killing of a police officer in Jerusalem, when a Palestinian suicide bomber heading toward the city center blew himself up in his car after being stopped at a roadblock (Mar. 30, 2002)
  
  
• The bombing that injured 30 people, one critically and five seriously, in a powerful explosion in a cafe on the corner of Allenby and Bialik streets in Tel Aviv (Mar. 30, 2002)
  
  
• The bombing that killed six and injured over 60 at a bus stop in Jerusalem (Apr. 12, 2002)

Following the March 2, 2002 bombing in Jerusalem, Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah to celebrate the attack. Young men in central Manara Square chanted, "Brigade, Brigade," referring to the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades that claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.

On April 2, 2002 Israel made public an invoice that was found among documents taken by Israeli troops in Arafat's Ramallah compound during Operation Defensive Shield. The invoice, titled "Financial Report" and dated September 16, 2001, appears to be a bill to the Palestinian Authority from the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. It requests from Arafat's government payment for, among other things, electrical and chemical components for 30 bombs: "We need about 5-9 bombs a week for our cells in various areas." The payment was approved.

Sources and additional reading on this topic:

• Letter dated 16 January 2002 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
• Designating Terror
• Peace in Mideast will only be brought about through war
• 5 Israelis killed 36 injured Tuesday morning in three seperate attacks