Summary
A Palestinian armed organisation which the Government of Israel’s written statement of January 2004 describes as part of Fatah, also sometimes referred to as the “Tanzim”, including amongst its ranks members of the various security forces of the Palestinian Authority, and as one of four principal organisations responsible for the vast majority of attacks against Israel and Israelis since October 2000 (Letter of 29 January 2004 and Written Statement of the Government of Israel on Jurisdiction and Propriety, PDF p.52).
Details
- The Brigades emerged out of the violence from September 2000, are based mainly in West Bank cities and towns, and are an integral part of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization; they draw considerable support from the 80,000 strong security forces of the Palestinian Authority and are closely linked to Arafat personally; a Brigades leader, Maslama Thabet, is quoted from USA Today of 14 March 2002 saying the Brigades receive their instructions from Fatah and that their commander is Arafat himself; Palestinian Authority officials are said to have acknowledged that many members are paid from Palestinian Authority funds as members of its security forces (PDF p.53).
- Attacks for which the statement says the Brigades claimed responsibility, or in which they were involved, include: assistance to Hamas in the 14 January 2004 attack at the Erez crossing-point, in which four Israelis were killed (PDF p.5, p.53); the 5 January 2003 double suicide bombing near the old central bus station in Tel Aviv, which killed 23 and injured around 120, carried out jointly with Palestine Islamic Jihad (PDF p.53, p.55, p.58); the 2 March 2002 attack in central Jerusalem, which killed 11 and injured 50; the 9 March 2002 shooting and grenade attack in Netanya, in which a 9 month old was killed; the 19 June 2002 French Hill attack, which killed 7; the 12 April 2002 Jerusalem market attack, which killed 6 and injured 104; the 10 November 2002 kibbutz attack in which Revital, Matan and Noam Ohayon were killed; and the 18 November 2003 shooting in which 2 soldiers were killed (PDF p.53, p.57-59).
- The Quartet statements of 22 June and 26 September 2003, as quoted in the statement, condemn the brutal and vicious terror attacks carried out by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade since the Roadmap’s presentation (PDF p.43).
Where sources disagree
The characterisation of the Brigades as directed by Fatah and by Arafat personally, and as staffed and paid through the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, is the Government of Israel’s submission in its January 2004 filing, attributed as such above; no other ingested source in this part addresses the Brigades’ command structure.
Related pages
Fatah, Palestine Liberation Organization, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Separation wall