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 the 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, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 ce. The al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades were formed in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, near Nablus, shortly after the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and a large police contingent visited the compound where the mosque is located in September 2000. Seven young Palestinians who are said to have grown up together in the Fatah youth movement developed the group.

The brigades have been affiliated with the Palestinian Fatah Party, a connection that appears to have been at its closest while Fatah was under the leadership of Yasir Arafat. The extent of Arafat's involvement with the group has been highly contested, however. He publicly condemned the group's suicide bombings, but press reports have quoted brigade leaders who claimed 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, al Aqsa's 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 6 people at a bat mitzvah in Hadera, Israel. On March 21, 2002, a suicide bomber killed 3 people and injured more than 20 in West Jerusalem. al Aqsa claimed responsibility for that attack. After the West Jerusalem bombing, the U.S. State Department added al Aqsa to its list of foreign terrorist organizations.

On March 30, 2002, Ayat Akhras, a Palestinian teenager and member of al Aqsa, 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, who was 18 at the time of her suicide, said she was sacrificing herself for the al Aqsa Mosque. She is believed to be just the third female Palestinian suicide bomber.

Following Arafat's death in 2004, al Aqsa's relationship with Fatah appears to have loosened, although the group is still considered to be aligned with that political party. In 2005, Fatah announced that the brigades would be dissolved and incorporated into Fatah's security forces. The group remained active, however, threatening to kill senior members of Hamas after the group won elections in 2006 and took over the Gaza Strip.

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