The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () is a

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

of Palestinian armed groups in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. The organization has been designated as a

terrorist organization A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Leadership

The leadership of the brigades and average members have identified themselves as the military wing of

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

. On their website, and on posters, they post the Fatah emblem. The leadership of Fatah has said they never made a decision either to create the brigades, or make them the militant wing of Fatah. Since 2002, some leaders in Fatah have reportedly tried to get the brigades to stop attacking civilians. In November 2003, BBC journalists uncovered a payment by Fatah of $50,000 a month to al-Aqsa. This investigation, combined with the documents found by the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF), led the

government of Israel The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the government ...

to draw the conclusion that the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have always been directly funded by

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

. In June 2004, then Palestinian Prime Minister

Ahmed Qurei Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointe ...

openly stated this: "We have clearly declared that the Aksa Martyrs' Brigades are part of Fatah. We are committed to them and Fatah bears full responsibility for the group." On 18 December 2003, Fatah asked the leaders of the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades to join the Fatah Council, recognizing it officially as part of the Fatah organization.

Notable members

Notable members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade (ordered lexicographically according to the last name) includes active militants and militants that were killed or arrested by the Israeli security forces. * Raed Al-Karmi: General commander and founder the Brigades, Killed by

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

in 14 January 2002 in

Tulkarm Tulkarm, Tulkarem or Tull Keram ( ar, طولكرم, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities of N ...

. *

Naif Abu-Sharah Naif Abu Sharah (1966 – 27 June 2004) ( ar, نائف أبو شارة) was a Palestinian member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Nablus, an armed wing of Fatah. He was killed in an Israeli Defense Forces operation in the old city of Nablus in 2 ...

: local commander in

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

(killed by

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

). *

Fadi Kafisha Fadi Kafisha (died August 31, 2006) was the head of the Tanzim in Nablus. Kafisha was responsible for organizing many suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis and creating many explosive belts. In 2004 Kafisha was wounded during a confront ...

: former head of the Tanzim in Nablus; killed by IDF in 2006. *

Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ar, سرحان بشارة سرحان ''Sirḥān Bišāra Sirḥān'', born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian Jordanian man who was convicted for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy, a United States Sena ...

: Involved in the 2002 Metzer attack. Killed by

Yamam The Yamam ( he, ימ"מ, an acronym for ''Centralized Special Unit'' , ''Yeḥida Merkazit Meyuḥedet''), also called in Hebrew and Israel's National Counter Terror Unit (I.N.C.T.U.) in English, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, ...

in 2003. *

Zakaria Zubeidi Zakaria Muhammad 'Abdelrahman Zubeidi ( ar, زكريا محمد عبد الرحمن الزبيدي; other spellings include Zakariyah Zbeidi, Zacharia and Zubaidi) (born 1976) is the former Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. He is co ...

: local commander in

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

, known for his relationship with Israeli far left activist

Tali Fahima Tali Fahima ( ar, طالي فحيمة, he, טלי פחימה); born 8 February 1976) is an Israeli of Algerian Jewish origin, pro-Palestinian activist who was convicted for her contacts with Zakaria Zubeidi, Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs ...

. * Samih Madhoun, senior leader. Killed in 2007 by the al-Qassam Brigades * Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, local commander in

, killed in August 2022.

Militant activities

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are responsible for numerous attacks in the

, targeting both Israelis and Palestinians. In 2002, for example, they killed

Ikhlas Khouli Ikhlas Khouli was a 35-year-old resident of Tulkarm, West Bank, and mother of seven who was executed in 2002, without trial, by Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade for allegedly collaborating with Israel. She was the first Palestinian woman to be execut ...

for collaborating with Israel. In November and December 2003, they killed the brother of

Ghassan Shakaa Ghassan Shakaa ( ar, غسان الشكعة, Ghassān Shak’ā) (1943 – 25 Jan 2018) was a Palestinian politician who was the mayor of Nablus in 1994–2004 and in 2012–2015. one of the largest cities in the West Bank. His uncle, Bassam Shaka w ...

(the mayor of

). In February 2004 Shakaa filed his resignation from office in protest of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

's lack of action against the armed militias "rampaging" the city. During the first three months of 2004, a number of attacks on journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were blamed on the Brigades as well, including the attack on the Arab television station

Al Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a flag ...

's West Bank offices by masked men who identified themselves as members of the Brigades. Palestinian journalists in Gaza called a general strike on 9 February 2004 to protest this rising violence against journalists. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have taken prominent part in the July 2004 riots in the Gaza Strip, in which Palestinian officers were kidnapped and PA security headquarters buildings and policemen were attacked by gunmen. These riots led the Palestinian cabinet to declare a state of emergency. One media outlet described the situation in the

anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

and

chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...

. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have carried out several joint attacks with the Islamist group

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

. These attacks were committed mainly in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have also carried out joint attack with other militant groups such as

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), known in the West simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist par ...

The Popular Resistance Committees The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) ( ar, لجان المقاومة الشعبية, ''Lijān al-Muqāwama al-Shaʿbiyya'') is a coalition of a number of armed Palestinian groups opposed to what they regard as the conciliatory approach of t ...

and with

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

in the

. The

's Gaza offices were raided by 15 masked gunmen from al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades on 30 January 2006. They demanded apologies from Denmark and Norway regarding the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamma ...

and left 30 minutes later without shots fired or injuries. On 9 June 2007, in a failed assault on an IDF position at the Kissufim crossing between Gaza and Israel in a possible attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers, 4 armed members of the

al-Quds Brigades Al-Quds Brigades (AQB) ( ar, سرايا القدس, ''Saraya al-Quds'' meaning ''Jerusalem Brigades'') is the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which is the second largest group in the Gaza St ...

– the military wing of Islamic Jihad – and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades – the military wing of

-, used a vehicle marked with "TV" and "PRESS" insignias penetrated the border fence and assaulted a guard tower in what Islamic Jihad and the army said was a failed attempt to capture an Israeli soldier. IDF troops killed one militant, while the others escaped. The use of a vehicle that resembled a press vehicle evoked a sharp response from many journalists and news organizations, including the Foreign Press Association and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

. On 14 July 2007,

, considered the local al-Aqsa leader for

and the northern West Bank and has been wanted for many years for his armed activity against Israel, agreed to cease fighting against Israel after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave conditional pardon for 178 prisoners from the PA territories.

Notable attacks

Some notable attacks (including suicide bombings) committed by the group were: *January 2002:

2002 Hadera attack On Thursday, January 17, 2002 a Palestinian gunman, 24-year-old Abdul Salaam Sadek Hassouneh, killed six people and wounded 33 at a bat mitzvah celebration in Hadera, Israel.

, when a gunman killed six and wounded 33 in a Bat Mitzvah celebration. *19 February 2002: Ein 'Arik checkpoint attack, near

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

, where one officer and five soldiers were killed. *3 March 2002:

Wadi al-Haramiya sniper attack The Wadi al-Haramiya sniper attack was a Palestinian sniper attack against Israeli soldiers and civilians on March 3, 2002. A lone Palestinian sniper, 22-year-old Tha'ir Kayid Hamad ( ar, ثائر كايد حماد), a member of al-Aqsa Martyrs ...

by a single sniper on an IDF checkpoint at Wadi al-Haramiya, near

Ofra Ofra ( he, עֹפְרָה) is an Israeli settlement located in the northern West Bank. Located on the main road between Jerusalem and Nablus (Route 60), it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In it had a population ...

, where two officers and five soldiers were killed and five soldiers wounded. Three civilian settlers were also killed in the incident. *2 March 2002: The

Yeshivat Beit Yisrael massacre A Palestinian suicide bombing occurred in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood in downtown Jerusalem on March 2, 2002. Eleven Israeli civilians were killed in the attack, including two infants, three children and two teenagers. Over 50 people were inju ...

Beit Yisrael Beit Yisrael ( he, בית ישראל, lit. ) is a predominantly Haredi neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is located just north of Mea Shearim on Ha-Rav Zonenfeld St 13. The name Beit Yisrael is taken from the verse in Ezekiel , in which E ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

– 11 killed. *5 January 2003: Tel Aviv Central bus station massacre – 22 killed. *29 January 2004: The

Café Moment bombing The Café Moment bombing was a Palestinian suicide bombing of a coffee shop in downtown Jerusalem, Israel that killed 11 Israeli civilians and left 54 others wounded. It was carried out on March 9, 2002, during the Second Intifada. The atta ...

in Rehavia, Jerusalem, bus line 19 – 11 killed. *22 February 2004: A

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

on a bus in

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by t ...

– 8 killed. *14 March 2004: Port of Ashdod bombings – 10 killed (carried out together with

). *24 March 2004, a Palestinian teenager named

Hussam Abdo Hussam Muhammad Bilal Abdo (Arabic: حسام محمد بلال عبده; born 24 February 1990) is a Palestinian from the Masahiya area of Nablus, who, as a teenager, made international headlines on 24 March 2004, when he entered the Hawara Checkp ...

was caught in an

checkpoint carrying an

explosive belt An explosive belt (also called suicide belt or a suicide vest) is an improvised explosive device, a belt or a vest packed with explosives and armed with a detonator, worn by suicide bombers. Explosive belts are usually packed with ball bearings, ...

. Following his arrest, an al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade teenagers' militant cell was exposed and arrested in

. On 23 September 2004, a 15-year-old suicide bomber was arrested by Israeli security forces. *16 October 2005: the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for a shooting attack at the

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...

Junction, killing three Israelis and wounding three others. *29 March 2022: 2022 Bnei Brak shootings, where a gunman shot five people dead in the

Ultra-Orthodox Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

Tel Aviv suburb of

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...

before being killed. The Brigades claimed responsibility.

2007 amnesty deal

In July 2007, Israel and the Palestinian Authority reached an amnesty deal under which 178 al-Aqsa gunmen surrendered their arms to the Palestinian Authority, renounced future anti-Israel violence and were permitted to join Palestinian security forces. Later agreements in 2007 and 2008 added more gunmen to the list of those granted amnesty in exchange for ending violence, eventually bringing the total to over 300. On 22 August 2007, according to

Arutz Sheva ''Arutz Sheva'' ( he, ערוץ 7, lit=''Channel 7''), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew, English, and Russian as well as l ...

, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade announced that it was backing out of its commitment and promise to refrain from attacks against Israel and the Israeli backed amnesty deal giving amnesty to 178 al-Aqsa gunmen who agreed to stop militant activities against Israel and surrender their weapons. al-Aqsa said that it backed out of the deal due to the IDF's arrest of two militants who were supposed to be on the amnesty list. According to the IDF, they said they caught the two men at a checkpoint and said they were involved in "terrorist activity" which consequently mandated their arrest according to the stipulations of the amnesty deal. Shortly after backing out of the amnesty deal and its promise of stopping to attack Israel that Al Aqsa agreed to a month earlier, al-Aqsa gunmen in Gaza have announced that they are starting to launch hundreds of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and cities and named the campaign, "Hole in the Wall II."

Popular culture

In the

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

movie ''

Brüno ''Brüno'' is a 2009 mockumentary comedy film directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, who produced, co-wrote, and played the gay Austrian fashion journalist Brüno. It is the third film based on one of Cohen's characters from ...

'', the character Brüno interviewed

Palestinian Christian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

Ayman Abu Aita, who was portrayed in the movie as a leader of the militant group. The group released a statement to a Jerusalem-based journalist saying that it was "very upset" that it had been featured in the film. Abu Aita insists that he was tricked into appearing in the film and that he has never been involved with the Martyrs' Brigades. In an interview with ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', Abu Aita stated, "It is true that I was jailed in 2003 ... I was active in resisting the occupation, in non-violent ways." After a clip of the interview was played on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'', Ayman called Baron Cohen a "big liar". Abu Aita subsequently filed a $110 million lawsuit against Baron Cohen and

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

. The suit was settled before trial.

References

External links