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GAZA CITY, Gaza — A new break-away armed faction with declared links to Fatah has emerged in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip claiming to have thousands of members.

At a press conference held after evening prayers in Gaza this week, a trio of masked men dressed in camouflage and toting assault rifles said they were the Ansar Al-Mujahidin, an independent Palestinian political armed faction in Gaza and with roots in the Fatah-held West Bank.

“We have hundreds if not thousands of members in Gaza and the West Bank and we expect to grow now we are a new faction which is independent and works towards a free Palestine,” said the group spokesman identified only as Abu Bilal.

A man identifying himself as Asa’d Abu Sharee’a said he was the group’s secretary general.

According to Abu Bilal, who spoke with The Media Line, the group had previously existed under the name Kataeb Al-Mujahidin, and had claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on Israelis in 2009 and 2010. Its leadership had been killed in a series of Israeli targeted interceptions, Abu Bilal said.

“We have successfully executed many jihad missions against Israel, our enemy, and we have given so many souls to Palestine because the Israeli enemy has assassinated many of our leaders and leading members,” he said.

According to Abu Bilal, his group had originally been linked with Shuhada Al-Aqsa, a Fatah-affiliated armed faction. They decided to break away when they said many had become involved in “vandalism and personal interest.”