The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is the military wing of the Hamas resistance group in Palestine. The al-Qassam Brigades (shortened down to EQB) was created in mid-1984 and sought to block the Oslo Accords from making peace with Israel, and from 1994 to 2000 it carried out several attacks against Israelis. During the Second Intifada, the group was targeted by Israel in both its Gaza Strip stronghold and the West Bank; most of their West Bank cells were destroyed by 2004 due to Israel Defense Forces operations. By 2016, it had anywhere between 30,000 and 50,000 fighters.