The targets
Muna Hamzeh looks at armed resistance groups Israel wants the roadmap to eliminate
Fatah -- Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (AMB) was established in late 2000 by Fatah members in response to extreme Israeli occupation measures against the Palestinian population during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Unlike Hamas, AMB does not want an Islamic state. Loyal to PA President Yasser Arafat, AMB has its eye on an eventual peace process and is prepared to recognise Israel.
Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted the group's leaders for assassination. West Bank AMB leader Raed Karmi was assassinated by the IOF in January 2002. The family homes of AMB suicide bombers have also been demolished by IOF bulldozers, rendering scores of families homeless.
Accusing Fatah Secretary-General Marwan Barghouti of having direct authority over AMB, the IOF arrested Barghouthi on 14 April 2002. He has since been in solitary confinement and is being tried before an Israeli military court (see lawsociety.org).
Since its formation, AMB has claimed responsibility for 25 armed attacks and suicide bombings both in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) and in Israel. Five of these attacks were carried jointly with other resistance groups.
Hamas -- Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades (IDQB) is the military wing of the Islamic resistance movement (Hamas). Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founded Hamas in Gaza in 1987 and is now the group's spiritual leader.
Hamas opposes recognition of Israel, but Yassin has in the past stated that he is prepared to offer Israel a truce if it withdrew from the territories it occupied in 1967.
Hamas runs extensive educational, welfare and religious activities in the occupied territories and has engaged in peaceful political activity. It enjoys significant popular support.
IDQB claimed responsibility for the first suicide bomb attack on civilians in Israel, which killed five people in the Hadera in 1994. It claimed responsibility for 36 attacks on IOF soldiers, settlers and civilians in IOF and Israel between 29 September 2000 and 31 May 2002.
IDQB leaders have been continuously targeted for assassination by the IOF. The family homes of IDQB suicide bombers have been demolished by IOF bulldozers, rendering many families homeless.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) -- was founded in the late 1970s by Fathi Shqaqi, Bashir Musa and Abdul-Aziz Odeh, three students studying in Egypt. The three were influenced by the Islamic revolution in Iran.
PIJ believes that an armed confrontation is the only solution to ending the conflict with Israel.
PIJ has carried out numerous armed attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli targets in the OPT and in Israel. More than 60 Israelis have been killed since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada by PIJ suicide attacks.
In recent months, PIJ and Hamas have grown closer and PIJ enjoys growing popular support.
PIJ leaders have been continuously targeted for assassination by the IOF. One of the group's founders, Fathi Shqaqi was assassinated by Israeli agents in Malta in 1995. The family homes of IDQB suicide bombers have been demolished by IOF bulldozers, rendering many families homeless.
PFLP -- The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Battalion (MAAMB) -- MAAMB was formed in 2001 after the IOF assassinated Abu Ali Mustafa, the new leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Mustafa replaced the ailing founder of the PFLP< George Habash, in May 2000.
Ahmed Saadat succeeded Mustafa and two months later (October 2001), the MAAMB retaliated for Mustafa's killing by assassinating Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. In January 2002, Saadat was arrested and jailed by the PA in the West Bank town of Jericho despite a Palestinian court ruling in favour of his release. He remains imprisoned under US and British supervision.
The IOF have repeatedly targeted the group's leaders for assassination and detention.
Between 27 May 2001 and 24 April 2003, MAAMB claimed responsibility for 11 armed attacks and suicide bombings against Israelis killing nine settlers, three IOF soldiers and seven Israeli civilians. Of those, three armed attacks targeted West Bank settlers (7 March 2002, 27 April 2002, 20 June 2002); three suicide bombings targeted civilians inside Israel (16 February 2002, 19 May 2002, 24 April 2003); three armed attacks targeted the IOF in the West Bank and Gaza (11 February 2003, 23 February 2003, 10 April 2003), and two bomb attacks targeted Israeli civilians (2 July 2001, 27 May 2001).
The PFLP claimed sole responsibility for five attacks (27 May 2001, 2 July 2001, 16 February 2002, 7 March 2002, 23 February 2003). Both Hamas and the PFLP claimed responsibility for two attacks (27 April 2002, 19 May 2002). The PFLP and the AMB claimed responsibility for three attacks (20 June 2002, 20 April 2003, 24 April 2003). The PFLP and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for one attack (11 February 2003).
(Information in this report was compiled from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs online and BBC news)
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 12 - 18 June 2003 (Issue No. 642)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/642/re6.htm