Terrorist Organization Profile:
Popular Resistance Committees

The membership of the PRC encompasses both the secular and fundamentalist Palestinian movements -- terrorists from Hamas, the PFLP, al-Fatah and the Tanzim are all in the ranks of the group. Ex-members of the Palestinian Preventive Security apparatus, part of the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, are also reported to be active in the PRC. The group is also suspected of being under the influence of Hezbollah, but no definitive connections between the groups have been discovered yet. The group maintains its "armed wing" under a separate name, the Salah al-Din Battalions/Brigades, although the PRC as a whole does not have any focus beyond armed terrorism.

The group has also been implicated in the October 15th, 2003 attack that killed a number of U.S. diplomatic security personnel in the Gaza Strip. The attack, a roadside bomb that destroyed the van the men were traveling in, was claimed then later denied by the PRC. Israeli suspicions remain focused on Hamas, although PFLP involvement has also been suspected.

After the death of their leader Samhadana in June 2006, the PRC (with Hamas) launched a daring raid on an Israeli army post near the Gaza strip. The group killed two Israeli soldiers and managed to capture another soldier named Gilad Shalit.

In return for Shalit's freedom, the perpetrators have demanded that Israel free all Palestinian women and minors in Israeli jails. As yet, the Israelis have rejected any demands for a prisoner swap. Several days after the kidnapping of Shalit, the PRC announced that they had kidnapped a Jewish settler in the West Bank. This claim has not been confirmed.

At the present time it is unclear whether or not PRC or Hamas were the main group behind these high-profile kidnappings. PRC has said the raids were revenge for Samhadana's death, but Hamas has been mainly blamed by the Israelis. In any case, these events will no doubt provoke a strong response from the Israeli military, likely involving the targeting killings of PRC members.

Learn more about these U.S. Department of State classifications:

Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)

Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL)