PLO group calls for attacks on Israel

A PLO group, aligned with Fatah and under the leadership of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, has ignored the US led peace talks calling on deadly attacks on Israeli civilians beginning on Yom Kippur.

JERUSALEM — The Al Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades called on followers to launch attacks against Israel.

A masked militant from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of the Fatah movement in Hebron, August 3, 2008. - Photo REUTERS-Nayef Hashlamoun

A masked militant from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of the Fatah movement in Hebron, August 3, 2008. – Photo: REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun

The Fatah-aligned Al Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades on Tuesday distributed a leaflet calling for its “units and sleeping cells” to start launching attacks against “the Zionist enemy” beginning on Friday, the eve of Yom Kippur.

The attacks are a protest against the effort to “Judaize and divide” Jerusalem and the Al-Aksa mosque, according to The Jerusalem Post.

“We call upon our people to participate in a popular intifada on Friday in honor of the blood of the martyrs and to defend our land and Aksa Mosque, which is being subjected to Judaization and division,” the leaflet said.

It was distributed by Fatah in the Gaza Strip, according to the newspaper.

The Al Aksa Martyrs’ Brigades have historically been considered the military wing of  Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The group  launched suicide bombings against Israelis during the Second Intifada.