Popular Resistance Committees
Encyclopedia
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) (Arabic
: لجان المقاومة الشعبية, Lijān al-Muqāwama al-Shaʿbiyya) are a coalition of various armed Palestinian
factions that oppose the conciliatory approach adopted by the Palestinian Authority and Fatah
towards Israel
. Active in the Gaza Strip
, the military wing of the PRC is the al-Naser Salah ad-Din Brigades.
Set up in late 2000 by former Fatah
and Tanzim
member Jamal Abu Samhadana, the PRC are composed primarily of ex-Fatah fighters and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
members and are alleged by Israel to be inspired and financed by Hezbollah. The PRC specializes in planting roadside bombs and vehicle explosive charges - directed against military and civilian convoys in the Gaza Strip. The PRC is described as a terrorist organization by Israel
and the United States
.
, including the following:
In addition, the Palestinian National Authority
arrested several PRC members, accusing them of being responsible for planting the explosives which, on October 15, 2003, destroyed a US
diplomatic convoy at Beit Hanoun
, killing three security guards and severely wounding a diplomat. The PRC confirmed the men were PRC members, and initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but later denied carrying out the attack, saying it was against Palestinian interests. Following the attack, the US demanded that the Palestinian Authority find those responsible and bring them to justice. Palestinian officials said that because of lack of progress in the attack investigation, the US halted financial support for the PA and placed unofficial sanctions on its accounts. After heavy US pressure, the PA tried four "suspects" in a Palestinian military court, but intelligence agencies dismissed the tribunal as a "mock trial" and said while the suspects were PRC activists, they were not those responsible for the attack. The men were released in March 2004, less than one year after the attack.
The PRC are also involved in Rafah
's smuggling tunnels which have been used to smuggle weapon
s, explosives, fugitive
s and civilian supplies etc.
The PRC claimed responsibility for the assassination
of Moussa Arafat
on September 7, 2005.
In early June 2006, PRC leader Jamal Abu Samhadana was killed by IDF forces. As the man considered responsible for a number of attacks, including the bombing of a children's school bus near Kfar Darom in November 2000 and for the 2003 infiltration into an IDF outpost in Rafah that left several soldiers dead, he was considered one of the most wanted Palestinians on the IDF
's hit-list.
On Sunday, June 25, 2006, PRC, together with Hamas and Jish al-Islam ("the Army of Islam") launched a major attack via tunnel near the Kerem Shalom
outpost. Eight Palestinian fighters used a nearly one km tunnel that they had dug over the past several months to cross the border between Gaza and Israel. The unexpected attack ended with one soldier- Corporal Gilad Shalit
- captured, two dead and four wounded. Two of the Palestinian attackers were killed while the other six made it back to the Gaza Strip with Shalit.
The same day of the tunnel attack, Eliyahu Asheri
, an 18 year old Israeli student, went missing near the West Bank
. The PRC shortly claimed responsibility for kidnapping and murdering him. Spokesman for the group, Abu Abir, also announced that the PRC had formed special units in the West Bank whose sole purpose is to kidnap soldiers and settlers, in accordance with the continued Operation "Cavaliers' Wrath."
On August 8, 2007, the PRC announced that it would form a political party to run in future Palestinian elections. It vowed, however, to keep its armed wing intact.
In August 18, 2011, Israel accused the PRC in committing the 2011 southern Israel attacks in which 8 Israelies were killed in firing and suicide bombing on two buses and a car near the Israeli-Egyptian border north to Eilat. On the evening of the same day, the Israeli Air Force
, working with Shin Bet, bombed the homes of The Popular Resistance Committees' members in Rafah
. Among the dead as identified by the group were their commander, Kamal al-Nairab and their military chief, Immad Hammad, and at least two more top members of the group and another member. The airstrike occurred in the southern Gaza Strip, close to the Egyptian border. The PRC responded to the raids in saying that it vows "double" revenge for the attack.
. The organization outwardly projects this relation through its mimicry of the Hezbollah flag which also bears a fist clenching a Kalashnikov rifle and stylized writing.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: لجان المقاومة الشعبية, Lijān al-Muqāwama al-Shaʿbiyya) are a coalition of various armed Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
factions that oppose the conciliatory approach adopted by the Palestinian Authority and Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
towards Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Active in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, the military wing of the PRC is the al-Naser Salah ad-Din Brigades.
Set up in late 2000 by former Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
and Tanzim
Tanzim
Tanzim is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement.-Overview:The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 to counter Palestinian Islamism, is widely considered to be an armed offshoot of Fatah with its own leadership structure...
member Jamal Abu Samhadana, the PRC are composed primarily of ex-Fatah fighters and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank. The group's name refers to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
members and are alleged by Israel to be inspired and financed by Hezbollah. The PRC specializes in planting roadside bombs and vehicle explosive charges - directed against military and civilian convoys in the Gaza Strip. The PRC is described as a terrorist organization by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Activities
The PRC have been involved in a number of bombing attacks on both military and civilian targets in the Gaza StripGaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, including the following:
- The November 20, 2000 bombing of a bus full of children as it passed near Kfar DaromKfar DaromKfar Darom was a kibbutz and an Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip.-Original kibbutz:Kfar Darom was founded on 250 dunams of land purchased in 1930 by Tuvia Miller for a fruit orchard on the site of an ancient Jewish settlement of the same name mentioned in the Talmud...
, killing two - The October 8 shooting attack on a bus carrying airport workers near the RafahRafahRafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
terminal on October 8, 2000, wounding 8 civilians, and a similar attack on a car on the road from Kerem ShalomKerem ShalomKerem Shalom is a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council and a border crossing near the meeting of the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt borders.- Kibbutz :The kibbutz was founded in 1966 adjacent to the triborder area by members of Hashomer Hatzair...
to the Rafah terminal, killing the woman driver - Mortar attacks on April 28, 2001 on the Netzer HazaniNetzer HazaniNetzer Hazani was an Israeli settlement located in the northeast corner of the Gush Katif and evacuated in Israel's disengagement of 2005...
agricultural Israeli settlementIsraeli settlementAn Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
(wounding five, one seriously), and similar attacks on Kfar Darom on April 29 and on Atzmona on May 7 of the same year. - The February 14, 2002 killing of three Israeli soldiers using large explosive charges designed for tanks, and similar killings of three more soldiers on March 14 and one more on September 5 of that same year.
- The May 2, 2004 killing of the unarmed and pregnant Tali HatuelTali HatuelThe murder of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters was a shooting attack which occurred on May 2, 2004, in which Palestinian militants killed five members of the Hatuel family in Gush Katif. Tali Hatuel, an Israeli resident who resided in Gush Katif, was eight months pregnant and was murdered along...
, and her four daughters aged 2 to 11, on KissufimKissufimKissufim is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev desert in Israel. Located adjacent to the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. It sits at an altitude of 92 metres above sea level.- History :...
road. The PRC and Islamic Jihad jointly claimed responsibility, also claiming that the attack was in retaliation for earlier Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killings of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-RantissiAbdel Aziz al-RantissiDr. Abdel Aziz Ali Abdulmajid al-Rantissi ; 23 October 1947 – 17 April 2004) was the co-founder of the militant Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin....
. - The January 13, 2005 killing of six Israeli settlers at the Karni Passage near Gaza, carried out together with HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' BrigadesAl-Aqsa Martyrs' BrigadesThe al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank. The group's name refers to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem...
. - On February 4, 2008 the Israeli Air ForceIsraeli Air ForceThe Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
assassinated the PRC's top military leader, Amer Qarmut (Abu Said) in response to a joint suicide bombing by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of PalestinePopular Front for the Liberation of PalestineThe Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
in DimonaDimonaDimona is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. Its population at the end of 2007 was 33,600.-History:...
, which killed one Israeli. - On March 6, 2008 the PRC detonated a roadside charge near the Kissufim crossing, killing an Israeli officer and wounding three others, one critically.
In addition, the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
arrested several PRC members, accusing them of being responsible for planting the explosives which, on October 15, 2003, destroyed a US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomatic convoy at Beit Hanoun
Beit Hanoun
Beit Hanoun is a city on the north-east edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 32,187 in mid-year 2006. It is administered by the Palestinian Authority...
, killing three security guards and severely wounding a diplomat. The PRC confirmed the men were PRC members, and initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but later denied carrying out the attack, saying it was against Palestinian interests. Following the attack, the US demanded that the Palestinian Authority find those responsible and bring them to justice. Palestinian officials said that because of lack of progress in the attack investigation, the US halted financial support for the PA and placed unofficial sanctions on its accounts. After heavy US pressure, the PA tried four "suspects" in a Palestinian military court, but intelligence agencies dismissed the tribunal as a "mock trial" and said while the suspects were PRC activists, they were not those responsible for the attack. The men were released in March 2004, less than one year after the attack.
The PRC are also involved in Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
's smuggling tunnels which have been used to smuggle weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s, explosives, fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...
s and civilian supplies etc.
The PRC claimed responsibility for the assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Moussa Arafat
Moussa Arafat
"Major General" Moussa Arafat al-Qudwa was a cousin of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.In July 2004, Arafat was appointed head of the Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip...
on September 7, 2005.
In early June 2006, PRC leader Jamal Abu Samhadana was killed by IDF forces. As the man considered responsible for a number of attacks, including the bombing of a children's school bus near Kfar Darom in November 2000 and for the 2003 infiltration into an IDF outpost in Rafah that left several soldiers dead, he was considered one of the most wanted Palestinians on the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
's hit-list.
On Sunday, June 25, 2006, PRC, together with Hamas and Jish al-Islam ("the Army of Islam") launched a major attack via tunnel near the Kerem Shalom
Kerem Shalom
Kerem Shalom is a kibbutz in the Eshkol Regional Council and a border crossing near the meeting of the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt borders.- Kibbutz :The kibbutz was founded in 1966 adjacent to the triborder area by members of Hashomer Hatzair...
outpost. Eight Palestinian fighters used a nearly one km tunnel that they had dug over the past several months to cross the border between Gaza and Israel. The unexpected attack ended with one soldier- Corporal Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit is an Israeli – French citizen and Israel Defense Forces soldier. On 25 June 2006, he was captured inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until he was released on...
- captured, two dead and four wounded. Two of the Palestinian attackers were killed while the other six made it back to the Gaza Strip with Shalit.
The same day of the tunnel attack, Eliyahu Asheri
Eliyahu Asheri
The murder of Eliyahu Asheri was a terror attack which carried out on June 25, 2006, in which Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees militants kidnapped, and later murdered the 17 year-old Israeli high school student Eliyahu Asheri....
, an 18 year old Israeli student, went missing near the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. The PRC shortly claimed responsibility for kidnapping and murdering him. Spokesman for the group, Abu Abir, also announced that the PRC had formed special units in the West Bank whose sole purpose is to kidnap soldiers and settlers, in accordance with the continued Operation "Cavaliers' Wrath."
On August 8, 2007, the PRC announced that it would form a political party to run in future Palestinian elections. It vowed, however, to keep its armed wing intact.
In August 18, 2011, Israel accused the PRC in committing the 2011 southern Israel attacks in which 8 Israelies were killed in firing and suicide bombing on two buses and a car near the Israeli-Egyptian border north to Eilat. On the evening of the same day, the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
, working with Shin Bet, bombed the homes of The Popular Resistance Committees' members in Rafah
Rafah
Rafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
. Among the dead as identified by the group were their commander, Kamal al-Nairab and their military chief, Immad Hammad, and at least two more top members of the group and another member. The airstrike occurred in the southern Gaza Strip, close to the Egyptian border. The PRC responded to the raids in saying that it vows "double" revenge for the attack.
Hezbollah Connection
According to Israel, the relation between the PRC and Hezbollah is more than coincidental. Israel alleges the organization enjoys financing and technical support from Hezbollah since its founding, and is a sort of proxy of Hezbollah's influence in the Gaza StripGaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. The organization outwardly projects this relation through its mimicry of the Hezbollah flag which also bears a fist clenching a Kalashnikov rifle and stylized writing.
External links
- The Leading Palestinian Terrorist Organizations (August 2004) from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S)
- The Resistance Committees: Between a Movement and a Party