The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a “military” arm of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility on Monday for a drive-by shooting that killed three Israeli police officers in Judea.
In an announcement posted on official channels, Fatah’s “militia” praised the terrorist who carried out the “Tarqumiya operation,” naming the perpetrator as Muhannad al-Aswad from the nearby town of Idhna.
The terrorist group warned that its gunmen would continue to “pursue the occupier [Israel] at every intersection, alley and neighborhood, until it is expelled from our land and our holy sites, Inshallah [‘God willing’].”
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Sunday that al-Aswad had links to the P.A.’s ruling faction and had served in Abbas’s presidential guard.
On Sunday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades declared responsibility for this weekend’s double car bombings in the Gush Etzion area of Judea.
In a statement, it claimed that the bombing attacks came in response to “Zionist massacres in the Gaza Strip, the crimes of the occupation in the occupied West Bank and violations against the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque.
“The fighters of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades continue their heroic operations against the forces of the Zionist enemy within the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood,” it said, referring to the war initiated by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Many members of Israel’s security brass support the Palestinian Authority’s control over parts of Judea and Samaria as a “moderating force,” as opposed to Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist groups.
Members of Ramallah’s security forces have a long history of carrying out attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians. Last year, Fatah boasted that most of its “martyrs” served in the P.A. Security Forces.
In addition, the Hamas terrorist organization has recruited dozens of PASF operatives, using them as terrorist combatants and for intelligence gathering, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported in mid-2023.
Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades “military” wing also took responsibility on Monday for the Judea car bombings, describing the twin attacks as the terrorist group’s “first martyrdom operation in the Hebron Governorate.”
The statement also mourned Tarqumiya shooter al-Aswad as a “heroic martyr fighter” but stopped short of taking responsibility for the attack.
The Al-Qassam Brigades vowed to continue providing weapons to “martyrs and those who carry out qualitative [terrorist] operations that will uproot this occupier from our land soon, with the help of Allah.”
On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged the Cabinet to launch a counterterrorism campaign throughout Judea and Samaria. “Gaza, Lebanon, and Judea and Samaria are part of the same Iranian choke ring that seeks to destroy the State of Israel,” Smotrich said.
In the six months of 2024, Judea and Samaria saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to figures Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) published on Aug. 1.
During that time, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.
Terrorists have killed 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in Judea and Samaria since the start of the year, the rescue group said.