Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades
Listed in Australia 9 November 2003 re-listed 5 June 2005
The following information is based on publicly available details regarding the organisation known as 'The Islamic Resistance Movement' (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya) which is more commonly referred to under its Arabic acronym Hamas. Its military wing is known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. These details have been corroborated by material from intelligence investigations into the activities of Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas is a radical Sunni Islamic organisation which emerged from the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in late 1987 - shortly after the commencement of the Intifada. Hamas soon became the dominant Islamic fundamentalist group in the Occupied Territories. Its main presence is in the Gaza Strip and some areas of the West Bank.
The functions of the Hamas organisation, which has distinct civilian and military wings, include legitimate political and social activities. Its welfare and mosque networks act as a base for its recruitment and propaganda activities. Its terrorist operations are conducted by its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Funding for Hamas is largely received from Palestinian expatriates and private benefactors in moderate Arab states. Some of this funding is channelled into its terrorist infrastructure and to support the families of Hamas activists who have died as 'martyrs' in the struggle against Israel and to support the families of those activists who have been arrested.
Hamas aims to establish an Islamic Palestinian state. It is a rejectionist organisation that has defined its highest priority as jihad for the liberation of all of Palestine. Hamas has employed terror tactics (including engagement in terrorist acts through the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades) in order to achieve its objectives.
While Hamas is generally divided into three elements: political, military and communal or welfare activities, there is constant mobility of roles and activities between these elements. The diversity of activities also enables the military element to mobilise candidates for military operations from those visiting the mosques and communal facilities.
Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades has been responsible for a series of suicide bomb attacks, shootings and kidnappings of Israeli/Jewish soldiers and civilians in Israel and the Occupied Territories and does not discriminate between Israeli military and civilian personnel. Civilians from a number of countries including the US have been killed in these terrorist attacks although Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades has not specifically targeted Western interests.
In what may be a significant turning point in modus operandi to recruit and utilise foreign muslims in suicide attacks, Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades recruited and despatched two British muslims to carry out a suicide bombing of a beach front bar in Tel Aviv. Four people were killed and over 60 injured in the 30 April 2003 attack.
Since its formation the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades has been involved in over 100 terrorist incidents resulting in the deaths of over 500 people and injuries to more than 3000. The types of attacks conducted by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades have included:
suicide bombings on buses and in crowded markets, nightclubs, and other highly populated places;
drive by shootings, at military check points and of civilians at the roadside; and
the abduction and murder of Israeli civilians or off duty Israeli soldiers.
Recent major terrorist attacks for which responsibility has been claimed by, or reliably attributed to, Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have included:
the 7 March 2003 shooting of Israeli civilians in Kiriat Arba which killed two people and injured four others;
the 30 April 2003 suicide bomb attack outside a bar ('Mikes Place') in Tel Aviv which killed four people and injured over 60 others, where the bomber was a British citizen;
the 18 May 2003 suicide bombing on a bus near the 'French Hill', Jerusalem, which killed seven people and injured 20 others;
the 19 May 2003 suicide bomb attack at the Amakim mall in Afula, Israel, which killed three people and injured 54 others. Hamas, together with two other groups, claimed responsibility;
the 11 June 2003 suicide bombing on a bus at Jaffa Street in Jerusalem which killed 17 people and injured 105 others;
the 19 August 2003 suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem which killed 21 people and wounded over 100 others. Hamas initially claimed responsibility for this attack (which was also claimed by the Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigade) although a senior Hamas official later stated that Hamas was not involved; and
the 9 September 2003 suicide bombings, one at a bus stop near Tel Aviv, the second at a Jerusalem nightspot, which killed 15 people and injured many others.
ASIO assesses that Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades is continuing to prepare, plan and foster the commission of acts involving threats to human life and serious damage to property. This assessment is strongly corroborated by information provided by reliable and credible intelligence sources.
In the course of pursuing its objective of creating an Islamic Palestinian state, Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades is known to have engaged in actions that:
are aimed towards advancing its political and religious causes;
are intended to, or do, cause serious damage to property, the death of persons or endangerment of life; and
are intended to cause, or have caused, serious risk to the safety of sections of the public in Israel, and other persons visiting areas in which it operates.
In view of the above information, Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades is assessed to be preparing, planning, and fostering the conduct of terrorist acts. Such acts include actions which are to be done and threats of actions which are to be made with the intention of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause and with the intention of coercing, or influencing by intimidation the government and people of Israel. The actions or threatened actions which Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades is assessed to be involved in would, if successfully completed, cause serious physical harm and death to persons and serious damage to property.
Thousands march in Hamas rally: Proof again of Palestine's inability to pursue peace
Originally Posted by Pannonian
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