Islamic Jihad | What is Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Gaza militia fighting Israel?

2023-05-12 19:24:09

It’s been four days since Palestinian militias throw hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory from the Strip Gaza. Normally one could assume that the person responsible is Hamas, the Palestinian formation that has governed de facto in the enclave since 2007. But this time the Islamist militia has chosen not to take up arms. The person in charge has been Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group, in fact, with six years more experience than the all-powerful Hamas. Who is he second largest militant group in Gaza? And what has led them to launch more than 600 shells in four days? Here are some keys about this armed group.

1. For the disillusioned

Islamic Jihad was born in the early 1980s. Fathi Shiqaqi y Abdel Aziz Odeh they created it with the intention of attracting the disappointed with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) of Yasser Arafat. After the first intifada, the Jihad stood firm with Hamas in its rejection of peace negotiations and his ultimate goal of destroying Israel. But, despite having many points in common, the Jihad differs from the militia that governs Gaza by its disinterest in politics. His resistance is only military. For this reason, according to the CIA’s 2021 estimates, they have between 1,000 and several thousand armed men. They also have a important arsenal of rockets, mortars, rockets and anti-tank missiles. Islamic Jihad does not release such information.

2. Funded by Iran

According to Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, Iran it has sent rockets, anti-tank weapons and mortar shells to the two main militias present in the Gaza Strip over the years. Jihad has foreign headquarters in Beirut y Damascus, for which they also receive tens of millions of dollars from their Iranian allies. Although Hamas broke ties with Tehran because of its support for the president Bashar al-Assad in the bloody civil war of SyriaIslamic Jihad has strengthened its ties with the Ayatollahs’ regime, which is, at the same time, Israel’s arch-enemy in the Middle East.

3. Strained relationship with Hamas

Although the largest Palestinian militia has given its support to the jihad in the military response to the Israeli offensive, Hamas also seeks to keep its fighters in check. Already last August it was the Islamic Jihad who confronted Israel militarily. Focused on military resistance, it has much less to lose in confrontations with the Jewish state. Hamas, on the other hand, tries to preserve the well-being of the two million Gazadis who live in the “largest open-air prison in the world”, and, to achieve this, it chooses to avoid violence whenever possible. Thus, the Palestinians in Gaza do not lose permits to work inside Israel or they must rebuild their houses without help. In this way, too, Hamas is not putting its ally’s cash flow at risk. Qatar. During this offensive, it has established, together with the Jihad, the Joint Rooms Operation of the Palestinian Resistance Factions to ensure that any decision on war or ceasefire with Israel is taken by consentrather than by a single group.

4. Objective: Destroy Israel

More than four decades have passed since its creation, but Palestinian Islamic Jihad remains convinced of its original mission. born for resist Israelhas been prominently deployed in the occupied west bank, although its largest presence continues to be in Gaza. That is precisely where the Israeli Army has wanted to harm it with targeted killings of their high positions and bombing about their infrastructures. Israel, for its part, has made sure not to attack Hamas sites to avoid further escalation, frowned upon by the international community, and an increase in the number of Israeli casualties. Both militias are considered terrorist groups by the Hebrew State, the United States and the European Union.