Palestinian Joint Operations Room

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Joint Operations Room
غرفة العمليات المشتركة لفصائل المقاومة الفلسطينية
Leaders
Dates of operation23 July 2018
(6 years ago)
 (2018-07-23) [1]
Group(s)
Ideology shared ideologies
United front
Palestinianism
Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian self-determination
Palestinian armed struggle
Anti-Zionism
Anti-imperialism
Part of Axis of Resistance [2] [3]
OpponentsFlag of Israel.svg  Israel
Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestinian Authority
Battles and wars

The Palestinian Joint Operations Room (Arabic : غرفة العمليات المشتركة, romanized: Ghurfat al-ʿAmaliyyāt al-Mushtaraka), also known by its full name Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions (Arabic: الغرفة المشتركة لفصائل المقاومة الفلسطينية, romanized: al-Ghurfa al-Mushtaraka li-Faṣāʾil al-Muqāwama al-Filasṭīniyya), is a Gaza-based joint front and command institution for the military wings of various Palestinian factions. It includes armed groups from various backgrounds, and ideologies from both the right and the left, including Islamists, socialists, nationalists, and others. [4]

The Joint Operations Room is managed from the Gaza Strip, but forms a single battlefront against Israel from wherever Palestinian militant forces are located, without being confined to a specific geographic area. [5]

Background

The operations room was formed for the first time in 2006 in order to unite against Israel during clashes and wars and included Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement, but it fell into obscurity. It was then developed, expanded, and was formed under its current name on July 23, 2018, among 12 military wings after clashes around Al-Aqsa Mosque, the most prominent of which was the installation of electronic gates there by Israel, in what is considered Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. [1] It currently consists of 12 different armed groups, and has coordinated a large number of attacks on Israel including the October 7 attacks, [6] and has also coordinated defence and retaliations against Israeli attacks. [7] [8] Ayman Nofal said that the goal of the room was to create an inter-organizational alliance to coordinate operations, and increase the potential of the "Palestinian Resistance", and for it to "become a comprehensive framework for all the organizations, networks and fighters, without exception". [9] He also gave a list of the 9 factions out of 12 which he said were "fully unified under the room". [7]

Activities

In 2019, the operations room launched its first military operation in response to the dismembering of the body of a Palestinian fighter on the Israel-Gaza border by Israeli forces, consisting of shelling and rocket fire into Israel. [10]

Since 2020, the operations room has coordinated annual training exercises for military factions in the Gaza Strip, modeling amphibious and ground attacks on Israeli military installations and Kibbutzes. [11] The exercise also included coordinated artillery fire, test rocket launches into the Mediterranean Sea, UAV warfare drills, and military diving. [12] The trainings modeled maneuvers similar to those seen in the 7 October attack on Israel in 2023. [13]

In mid 2024, the operations room accused the British Armed Forces of collaborating with Israel on its intelligence efforts in Gaza. [14]

Members

Ex-Fatah groups not mentioned by Nofal: [7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "غرفة العمليات المشتركة.. "قيادة أركان المقاومة" في غزة". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  2. Drums Of War: Israel And The "AXIS OF RESISTANCE" (PDF), International Crisis Group, 2 August 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04
  3. Al-Kassab, Fatima (26 October 2023). "What is the 'axis of resistance' of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East?". NPR . Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  4. Tollast, Robert; Oweis, Khaled Yacoub (2023-11-15). "Who are Hamas's allies in Gaza? From Islamic Jihad to Marxist militants". The National. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  5. "Hamas' October Attacks and the Israeli War on Gaza: Reflections from Palestinians". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2024-10-03. All Palestinian armed factions now work within a joint operations room managed in Gaza, forming a single battlefront against Israel from wherever Palestinian resistance forces are located, without being confined to a specific geographic area.
  6. "How Hamas built a force to attack Israel on 7 October". BBC . 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Hamas terrorist Ayman Nofal explains the workings of the Palestinian organizations' joint operations room in the Gaza Strip". Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center . 2023-10-31. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  8. 1 2 3 "What is Hamas? A simple guide to the armed Palestinian group". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  9. Palestine Chronicle Staff (2023-06-12). "Joint Room and 'Unity of the Squares': What Will the Next Israeli War on Gaza Look Like". The Palestine Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  10. Truzman, Joe (2020-02-28). "Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Joint Operations Room launch operation "Revenge of the Truthful."". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  11. "Palestinian Factions: Hamas and PIJ | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. 2025-02-24. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  12. "The first military exercise was held under the command of the joint operations room of all the terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. Its objective was to send messages of unity and improved military capabilities - The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center". www.terrorism-info.org.il. Archived from the original on 2024-12-06. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  13. "How Hamas built a force to attack Israel on 7 October". 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  14. "Palestinian Joint Operations Room says UK is contributing to Israeli intelligence work in Gaza". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 موسى, رائد. "برا وبحرا وجوا.. المقاومة تنفذ أكبر مناورة عسكرية في غزة". الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Inbari, Pinhas (2018-11-15). "A "Joint Operations Room" in Gaza – the New Factor in the Balance of Power in Gaza". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Retrieved 2023-10-31.