Al-Quds Brigades

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Al-Quds Brigades
سرايا القدس
Spokesman Abu Hamza
Dates of operation1981 (1981)–present
MotivesThe establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state within the geographic borders of pre-1948 Mandatory Palestine
Active regions Gaza Strip, West Bank, Southern Lebanon
Ideology Palestinian nationalism
Sunni Islamism
Jihadism
Anti-Zionism
StatusActive
Size12,000
Part of Flag of Palestine.svg Palestinian Joint Operations Room
Flag of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.webp Palestinian Islamic Jihad
AlliesState allies:
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria [1]
(until 2024)
Non-state allies:
Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Al-Qassam Brigades
Flag of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.svg National Resistance Brigades
Hand drawn PFLP logo.jpg Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades
InfoboxHez.PNG  Hezbollah
OpponentsFlag of Israel.svg  Israel
Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestinian Authority
Website saraya.ps

Al-Quds Brigades (Arabic : سرايا القدس, Sarāyā al-Quds meaning "Jerusalem Brigades") is a paramilitary organisation and the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist [2] [3] organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), [4] which is the second largest armed group in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas. [5] AQB's leader is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, based in Damascus, Syria. [6] The head of AQB in the Gaza Strip was Baha Abu al-Ata [5] until he was killed in November 2019. [7]

AQB's parent organization, PIJ, is devoted to the establishment of an Islamic state, and the settlement of Palestinians in what it considers their rightful homeland within the geographic borders of the pre-1948 British-mandated Palestine. It refuses to participate in political processes or negotiations about a swap of Israeli and Palestinian settlements. [3] The PIJ is majority funded by Iran and Syria. [8] [9]

History

Al-Quds Brigades was founded in 1981 by Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd Al Aziz Awda in Gaza, [2] and has been active in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, especially in the town of Jenin. Awda was designated a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by United States on 23 January 1995, and Shiqaqi was assassinated in Malta on 26 October 1995.

The group undertook numerous attacks on Israeli civilians, including suicide bombings; and has suffered extensive operations against its infrastructure carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which resulted in severe losses to the group, and it appeared significantly weakened by 2004. [2] [3]

On 1 March 2006, Abu al-Walid al-Dahdouh, an AQB commander, was targeted and killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City as he drove past the Palestinian finance ministry. [10] On 30 August 2006, the AQB West Bank leader, Hussam Jaradat, was shot and killed by undercover IDF in Jenin on 30 August 2006. [3]

In the Gaza Strip, al-Quds Brigades continued its militant activities, [11] including the indiscriminate firing of al-Quds rocket attacks out of populated civilian areas. [2] [12] Al-Quds Brigades promotes the military destruction of Israel, including the indiscriminate firing of rocket, mortar fire and suicide bombings. [2]

In March 2014, over 100 rockets were launched into southern Israel by PIJ and other Islamist groups. On 14 March, Ramadan Shalah, the then leader of PIJ, announced that the attack was coordinated with Hamas. [13]

Baha Abu al-Ata, the head of AQB in the Gaza Strip, was killed in a targeted killing in Gaza City on 12 November 2019, allegedly after having given orders for the launching of rockets into Israel. [14] At the same time, Syrian media reported that another senior PIJ commander, Akram al-Ajouri, survived an airstrike in Damascus, but his son and daughter were killed. [15] The next day, AQB launched more than 220 rockets into southern and central Israel, and on the next day the IDF struck several PIJ targets in the Gaza Strip killing two Palestinians, identified as 38-year-old Khaled Moawad Faraj, AQB's field commander, and 32-year-old Alaa Ashtyawu. Later that day, three more AQB members were killed in an Israeli Air Force airstrike while attempting to launch rockets into Israel. [16] A ceasefire was agreed for 14 November, by which time AQB had launched over 400 rockets into Israel and a total of 36 Palestinians had been killed, including 25 members of PIJ or other factions in the Strip. [17] This time, Hamas made no effort to stand with or assist PIJ. [18]

Jihad Shaker al-Ghannam (secretary of the al-Quds Brigades' Military Council), Khalil Salah al-Bahtini (commander of its Northern Region), and Tariq Ibrahim Ezzedine (one of the heads of military action) were killed by an Israeli airstrike in May 2023. [19]

The AQB has participated in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war (2023-present), fighting alongside Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades and other allied Palestinian factions. [20] [21] [22]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestinian Islamic Jihad</span> Palestinian paramilitary force

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziyad al-Nakhalah</span> Leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2019 Gaza–Israel clashes</span> Events in the Gaza-Israel conflict

A Gaza–Israel conflict escalation began on 3 May 2019 after two Israeli soldiers were injured by sniper fire from the Gaza Strip during the weekly protests at the Gaza–Israel border. In response, the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike, killing two Palestinians. Following this, hundreds of rockets were launched from Gaza at Israel, while the Israeli Air Force struck numerous targets within the Gaza Strip. In addition, Israel increased its troop presence near the Israel–Gaza barrier.

Baha Abu al-Ata was a leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ). On 12 November 2019, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) killed Abu al-Ata and his wife in a targeted killing, four of their children and a neighbour were also reportedly injured. The killings triggered clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Khalil Bathani became the new leader of PIJ.

Akram al-Ajouri is a leader of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ). Al-Ajouri is based in Damascus and was unsuccessfully targeted in an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) airstrike on November 12, 2019, on the same day the IDF killed Baha Abu al-Ata. The IDF described al-Ajouri as a member of the PIJ's political bureau in Syria. However, the airstrike on a building in Mezzeh area killed his son and daughter, and six were injured. Clashes began between Gaza and Israel following his attempted killing and the killing of al-Ata. As of 14 November 2023, al-Ajouri is designated as a terrorist by the United States State Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 2019 Gaza–Israel clashes</span> Series of rocket strikes conducted by Israel and the Gaza Strip

The Gaza–Israel clashes code-named by Israel as Operation Black Belt, took place between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) following the targeted killing of senior PIJ commander Baha Abu al-Ata in Gaza, and the attempted killing of senior PIJ commander Akram al-Ajouri in Damascus, Syria by the IDF. PIJ responded with rocket fire into Israel, including long-range rockets fired towards Tel Aviv, leading to several civilians being wounded. In response to the rocket fire, Israel carried out airstrikes and artillery shelling in the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding several militants as well as civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Gaza–Israel clashes</span> 2022 conflict between Israel and Gaza

The 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes code-named as Operation Breaking Dawn lasted from 5 to 7 August 2022. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted some 147 airstrikes in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired approximately 1,100 rockets towards Israel. The operation, ordered by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz without prior Cabinet discussion or approval, followed a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which Israeli forces arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in that area. On 6 August, Israel arrested 20 people in the West Bank of whom 19 were members of PIJ and a further 20 on 7 August according to an unnamed Israeli official.

Tayseer Mahmoud al-Jabari was a Palestinian militant and senior commander of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement. He succeeded Baha Abu al-Ata as the brigades' commander in the northern Gaza Strip, holding that position from the former's assassination in 2019 until his own assassination in 2022, which sparked the 2022 Gaza–Israel clashes.

Events in the year 2022 in Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2023 Gaza–Israel clashes</span> 2023 Israeli military operation

The clashes between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in May 2023 started on 2 May 2023 when Khader Adnan, a former Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) spokesman, died in an Israeli prison following an 87-day hunger strike protesting his continual administrative detention and PIJ militants fired around 102 rockets towards southern Israel, injuring seven individuals in Sderot. On 9 May 2023, Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, called Operation Shield and Arrow that lasted until 13 May.

References

  1. ↑ Sami Moubayed (28 February 2020). "Islamic Jihad rises with Iranian-Syrian support". Middle East Online. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Palestinian Islamic Jihad – al-Quds Brigades". Australian National Security. Australian Attorney-General's Department. Archived from the original on 9 March 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "IDF uncovers massive tunnel near Gaza fence Four terrorists killed in Gaza City clashes". icej.org. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Guitta, Olivier (4 January 2009). "The Next Dangerous Phase of the Gaza War". Middle East Times. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  5. 1 2 Ahronheim, Anna (3 November 2019). "Who is Abu al-Ata: The man behind rocket fire from Gaza Strip". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  6. ↑ IDF: Islamic Jihad 'deliberately' fired rocket that landed offshore
  7. ↑ Holmes, Oliver (12 November 2019). "Israel strikes on Islamic Jihad chiefs prompt reprisal rocket attacks". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Mannes, Aaron (2004). Profiles in Terror: The Guide to Middle East Terrorist Organizations. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 201.
  9. ↑ The Terrorist Connection – Iran, The Islamic Jihad and Hamas
  10. ↑ "Air strike kills Islamic Jihad leader". ABC News. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  11. ↑ Martinez, Michael, and Talal Abu Rahma, and Kareem Khadder (12 March 2014). "Israel fires on 29 'terror sites' after rockets from Gaza hit populated areas". cnn.com. Retrieved 11 July 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Hirshfeld, Rachel (15 November 2012). "Video: Jihadists Firing from Residential Zones, Proud of It". israelnationalnews.com. Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "Islamic Jihad Leader: Israel Attack Coordinated with Hamas; Despite Truce, Threatens 'Beyond' Tel Aviv". The Algemeiner . 14 March 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Islamic Jihad leader killed in Israeli air strike". CNN. 12 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Islamic Jihad says senior commander targeted in Damascus strike, son killed". The Times of Israel. 12 November 2019.
  16. ↑ "Islamic Jihad terrorist's home hit by IDF airstrike - report". The Jerusalem Post. 13 November 2019.
  17. ↑ "IDF remains on high alert as rockets threaten cease fire". The Jerusalem Post. 15 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "Israel kills top Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza". 12 November 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  19. ↑ Israeli strikes on Gaza kill top militants and 10 civilians David Gritten, BBC News, May 9, 2023
  20. ↑ "Not only Hamas: eight factions at war with Israel in Gaza". Newsweek. 7 November 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  21. ↑ "Fighting intensifies between Israel and Hamas-led militants in north and south Gaza". Reuters. 15 May 2024.
  22. ↑ "The Order of Battle of Hamas' Izz al Din al Qassem Brigades, Part 1: North and Central Gaza". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
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