SUMMARY

The use of violence against civilians by the AMB is part of the wider strategy of forcing Israel to concede to the Palestinians a state of its’ own. The AMB however did not turn to attacks on civilians until 2002, then partly since the AMB and Fatah were losing political ground to Islamic groups, which carried out such attacks that at the time were popular amongst the Palestinian public. The shift towards such tactics also came when the AMB was under severe Israeli military pressure. That the center sanctioned this shift is disputed though.

The main tactics against civilians employed by the AMB are commonplace among Palestinian militant groups that attack civilians, mostly being shooting attacks, suicide bombings, and the launching of Qassam rockets on Israeli settlements and urban centers.

The vast majority of AMB attacks on civilians have taken place in the West Bank (shooting attacks in or near Jewish settlements) and Israeli urban centers (suicide bombings and shooting attacks).

AMB first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2002, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in March of that year when several shootings and suicide bombings had resulted in more than 25 deaths.