Gaza-Based Fatah Splinter Group Performs Military Exercise, Including Simulated Kidnapping of Israeli Soldier

For the 54^th anniversary of Fatah's founding, an Alkofiya TV (Gaza) reporter visited the Nidal Al-'Amoudi Battalion of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. The Nidal Al-‘Amoudi Battalion is a Gaza-based Fatah splinter group that claims to be the true followers of Yasser Arafat’s legacy. At the group's Yasser Arafat Base, the reporter interviewed the battalion's spokesman, Abu Muhammad, who said that the Al-Aqsa Brigades will persist on Yasser Arafat's path of liberating Palestine and eliminating Israel. Abu Muhammad also said that "the worst is yet to come" because the Al-Aqsa Brigades have new units that will be revealed "at the right time." In addition, Abu Muhammad said that Yasser Arafat himself had ordered the Second Intifada. The broadcast then showed a live-fire military exercise by the battalion that included the simulated kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. The video aired with Hebrew subtitles. The broadcast aired on Alkofiya TV (Gaza) on January 1, 2019. To read more about Abu Muhammad, the Nidal Al-'Amoudi Battalion, and the Yasser Arafat Base, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7322.

Following are excerpts:

Reporter: This is the spokesman for the Nidal Al-'Amoudi Battalion of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades of Palestine. We came here to talk in detail about the preparations, the equipment, and the capabilities of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades throughout the duration of the Palestinian revolution and the armed struggle, headed by the Al-‘Asifah forces. Welcome, Abu Muhammad.

Abu Muhammad: Welcome to our military academy, the Martyr Yasser Arafat Academy. Today commemorates the issuing of the first communiqué by the Al-‘Asifah forces, which announced their formation after first having carried out a military operation. This affirms that armed struggle is the primary path of Fatah.

Reporter: You are still following this path. What would you like to say?

Abu Muhammad: Fifty-four years have passed since the Palestinian Revolution broke out and Fatah was formed. We adhere to the principles of this revolution since it was launched, [including] the annihilation of the so-called “Israel.” Our message to Yasser Arafat on the 54^th anniversary of the launch [of Fatah]: We, the Martyr Nidal Al-‘Amuodi Battalion of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades of Palestine, persist on your path – the path of the Palestinian Revolution – until our goal of liberating Palestine in its entirety is fulfilled and until one of our boys or girls raises the flag of Palestine over the walls of Jerusalem and its churches, Allah willing.

[…]

Reporter: It was Arafat who made the decision to launch the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Now that the Al-Aqsa Intifada is over, and we have entered an advanced stage in the history of the Palestinian cause – was it a difficult decision to bring back the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade?

[…]

Abu Muhammad: When the martyr Yasser Arafat approved of the beginning of military operations after the Al-Aqsa Intifada… It was a decision made by Yasser Arafat. When Yasser Arafat was martyred, there was no decision to terminate operations by the Al-Aqsa Brigades. The Al-Aqsa Brigades were present on the battlefields in order to harm the Zionist occupation on our land. Yasser Arafat was martyred while adhering to this path, so we shall continue [on this path] until we achieve the goals of the Al-Aqsa Brigades and the goals of the Palestinian revolution – the elimination of the so-called “Israel,” and removing it from our plundered Palestinian land.

[…]

Reporter: Having arrived at a stage unlike any of the past stages, what is your message to Israel?

Abu Muhammad: I will begin by saying something that has been said by everyone: The worst is yet to come. Israel must wait and see what the new units of the Al-Aqsa Brigades are [like]. These units have not been revealed yet, but they will be revealed at the right time, after Israel pays a dear price for its ongoing crimes against our people. Israel must know that we, the Martyr Nidal Al-‘Amoudi Battalion of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades of Palestine, will continue training our sons, teaching them our ideology, and having them graduate from this military base, which was named after Yasser Arafat, the martyr who will be with us forever. I repeat: the so-called “Israel” must leave our land. If they do not leave of their own accord, then they will leave either as dead [sic], as wounded, or as prisoners, Allah willing.