What is the Al-Qassam Brigades under Hamas?

“We will gladly tribute our lives and become martyrs to elevate the fame of the community.”

This oath is taken by the Al-Qassam Brigades, a militant wing under Hamas, an Islamist political party that controls the Gaza Strip in Palestine.

The New York Times reported Sunday that the military conflict between Israel and Hamas lingers in part because such a core militant group exists within Hamas.

Al-Qassam was behind the firing of long-range rockets Saturday at the de facto Israeli capital of Tel Aviv and holy city of Jerusalem. Ahmed al Jabari, who was killed Thursday as the main target of the latest round of Israeli shelling, was the commander of the group.

The militant unit has about 15,000 members, or just 0.9 percent of the 1.7 million Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip, but they are known to be highly organized and specialized and possess strong loyalty just like a secret religious organization.

Moreover, most of the members do not live in the barracks, but voluntarily participate in activities on special occasions while holding regular jobs in ordinary times, including police officers, college professors and government officials. Since they wear black hoods, it is difficult to identify them.

Members generally join the group at ages 16 to 17 and receive education designed to enhance their ideological beliefs and recognition of security, as well as military training before taking an oath on the Quran to register with Al-Qassam. Their parents reportedly take pride when their children join the group.

Israel claims that because Al-Qassam places their ammunition depots in residential areas, civilian casualties have resulted. The New York Times said Israel is considering deploying ground forces because it deems inevitable the deployment of ground troops to search and seize Fajr-5 rockets that are hidden in civilian residences. The rocket poses a major threat due to its long range.

Al-Qassam was named after Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, an Arab hero who died in 1935 after forming an anti-Zionist organization against the U.K. in protest of British rule over Palestine. Initially formed in 1984, the group reportedly started military attacks in January 1992.

Al-Qassam boosted its strength while under Jabari’s control after Hamas occupied the Gaza Strip in 2007, and also received weapons and financial assistance from Iran, Syria and Sudan.

Though a wing of Hamas, the unit at times conducts activities independently or stages campaigns opposite in direction to those of Hamas at other times.

Al-Qassam`s ranks are filled with volunteers who arm themselves with automatic personal rifles, hand grenades and Qassam rockets. The rocket that recently hit sites near Jerusalem was Qassam M76.

The U.S., the European Union and Australia have registered Al-Qassam as a terrorist group.

bonhong@donga.com