The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group of…

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group of West Bank militias affiliated with Fatah, have been one of the driving forces behind the current Palestinian intifadah.

The group had initially vowed to target only Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

However, in early 2002, when the Palestinian death toll in the current uprising is nearing one thousand and the popularity of Arafat's secular Fatah faction is waning in comparison to the Islamist militants of Hamas, it begins a spree of terrorist attacks against civilians in Israeli cities.