Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

A coalition of Palestinian West Bank militias that became increasingly violent during 2002, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are known for committing deadly suicide bombing attacks against Israel. Unlike Hamas and other Palestinian groups that use suicide-bombing tactics, the brigades' ideology is reportedly based on Palestinian nationalism rather than Muslim fundamentalism.

The group's name refers to al-Aqsa mosque, which is located at the top of the Jerusalem holy site known as the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims and as the Temple Mount by Jews. Muslims revere the site as the place where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and Jews revere it as the site of the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades were formed (in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, near Nablus) shortly after Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and a large police contingent visited the compound where the mosque is located in September 2000. Later that fall, the brigades were formed in Balata, a West Bank refugee camp near Nablus. Seven young Palestinians who are said to have grown up together in the Fatah youth movement developed the group.

The brigade is affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's Fatah party. The extent of Arafat's involvement with the group is highly contested. He has publicly condemned the group's suicide bombings, but press reports have quoted brigade leaders who claim that Arafat gives their orders.

Al Aqsa began with drive-by shootings and suicide bombings, and then started targeting Israeli roadblocks and settlers in the West Bank. At first, the group did not carry out attacks outside of the West Bank.

In August 2001, leader and cofounder Yasser Badawi was killed by a car bomb. After his death, the brigades began attacking civilians inside Israel. The attacks escalated, and on January 17, 2002, an Al Aqsa member killed six at a bat mitzvah in Hadera, Israel. On March 21, 2002, a suicide bomber killed three people and injured more than 20 in West Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for that attack. After the West Jerusalem bombing, the U.S. State Department added the brigades to the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.

On March 30, 2002, 16-year-old Ayat A-Akhras, a Palestinian teenager and member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, blew herself up in a suburban Jerusalem supermarket, killing herself and two Israelis. Another 22 people were wounded. The group called the Associated Press to claim responsibility. In a prerecorded video broadcast on Arab television, Akhras said she was sacrificing herself for al-Aqsa mosque. She is said to be just the third Palestinian woman suicide bomber.