The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (Arabic: كتائب شهداء الأقصى, romanized: Katāʾib Shuhadāʾ al-Aqṣā)[a] are a Fatah-aligned coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank[5] and the Gaza Strip.
[7] Created in 2000 amidst the Second Intifada,[8] the Brigades previously operated as the official armed wing of the Fatah political party before separating from them in 2007.
[17] The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades were formed in Balata Camp, near Nablus in the West Bank, following a controversial visit in September 2000 by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a large police contingent to Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
[18] In 2007 to 2008 some members defected to the Palestinian Authority while others formed Islamist splinter groups such as the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in the Gaza Strip.
[20] In November 2003, BBC journalists uncovered a payment by Fatah[citation needed] of $50,000 a month to the Brigades[21] This investigation, combined with the documents found by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), led the government of Israel to draw the conclusion that the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades had always been directly funded by Yasser Arafat.
[22] In June 2004, then Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei openly stated this: "We have clearly declared that the Aksa Martyrs' Brigades are part of Fatah.
[24] Later agreements in 2007 and 2008 added more gunmen to the list of those granted amnesty in exchange for ending violence, eventually bringing the total to over 300.
According to the IDF, they said they caught the two men at a checkpoint and said they were involved in "terrorist activity" which consequently mandated their arrest according to the stipulations of the amnesty deal.
Shortly after backing out of the amnesty deal and its promise of stopping to attack Israel that Al Aqsa agreed to a month earlier, al-Aqsa gunmen in Gaza have announced that they are starting to launch hundreds of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and cities and named the campaign, "Hole in the Wall II.
[38] The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades took prominent part in the July 2004 riots in the Gaza Strip, in which Palestinian officers were kidnapped and PA security headquarters buildings and policemen were attacked by gunmen.
[40] On 16 October 2005, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for a shooting attack at the Gush Etzion Junction which killed three Israelis and wounded three others.
[42] On 9 June 2007, in a failed assault on an IDF position at the Kissufim crossing between Gaza and Israel in a possible attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers, 4 armed members of the al-Quds Brigades – the military wing of Islamic Jihad – and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades as the then military wing of Fatah used a vehicle marked with "TV" and "PRESS" insignia, penetrated the border fence, and assaulted a guard tower in what Islamic Jihad and the army said was a failed attempt to capture an Israeli soldier.
"[59] After a clip of the interview was played on the Late Show with David Letterman, Abu Aita called Baron Cohen a "big liar".