AFP describes the Al-Aqsa Brigades’ relationship to Fatah as “loose” and “nebulous”:
The two members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a nebulous faction loosely affiliated to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas’s ruling Fatah party, were killed during an Israeli incursion in Al-Yumun…
But as AP, reports, the relationship isn’t so loose and certainly not nebulous:
Fatah unofficially asked its affiliated militant group, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, to help fight Hamas as Abbas seeks to ensure a smooth Israeli pullout from Gaza settlements, Fatah and Al Aqsa members said.
UPDATE: A later report by AFP clarifies the Brigades’ relationship with Fatah and the Palestinian security apparatus:
A spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Fatah which includes many members of the official security forces within its ranks, accused Hamas of using a rocket-propelled grenade in the clashes.
