Al-Quds Brigades (, ''Sarāyā al-Quds'' meaning "

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Brigades") is a paramilitary organisation and the armed wing of the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

Islamist organization

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981. PIJ formed as an offsh ...

(PIJ), which is the second largest armed group in the Gaza Strip, after

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

. AQB's leader is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, based in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The head of AQB in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

was Baha Abu al-Ata until he was killed in November 2019. 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. The PIJ is majority funded by

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It formerly received funding from

Ba'athist Syria Ba'athist Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), was the Syrian state between 1963 and 2024 under the One-party state, one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Syrian regional branch of the Ba'ath Party (Syri ...

as well, before the

collapse of the Assad regime On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a major offensive by opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army as part of the ongoi ...

in 2024.

History

Al-Quds Brigades was founded in 1981 by

Fathi Shaqaqi Fathi Ibrahim Abdulaziz Shaqaqi (; 4 January 1951 – 26 October 1995) was a Palestinian physician, leader and the founder and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization. Shaqaq ...

and

Abd Al Aziz Awda Abdul Aziz Awda, also known as Sheik Awda (born 1946 or 20 December 1950), is a Palestinian cleric who, along with Fathi Shaqaqi, founded the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization based in Damascus, S ...

in Gaza, and has been active in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the

, especially in the town of

Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...

. Awda was designated a "

Specially Designated Terrorist A Specially Designated Terrorist (SDT) is a person who has been designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to be a specially designated terrorist under notices or regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the ...

" by United States on 23 January 1995, and Shiqaqi was assassinated in

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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 The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF), which resulted in severe losses to the group, and it appeared significantly weakened by 2004. On 1 March 2006,

Abu al-Walid al-Dahdouh Abu al-Walid al-Dahdouh (Arabic: أبو الوليد الدحدوح) (died 1 March 2006) was a senior leader of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and a commander of the group's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades. He was killed by a ...

, an AQB commander, was targeted and killed by an

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i air strike in

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

as he drove past the Palestinian finance ministry. On 30 August 2006, the AQB West Bank leader,

Hussam Jaradat Hossam or Hussam or Hosam or Husam (; ) is an Arabic/Semitic male given name and surname. It means the sharp sword or a cutting blade. In some traditions it translates to "sword of justice" or "sword that divides justice and injustice". Notable peop ...

, was shot and killed by undercover IDF in Jenin on 30 August 2006. In the Gaza Strip, al-Quds Brigades continued its militant activities, including the indiscriminate firing of al-Quds rocket attacks out of populated civilian areas. Al-Quds Brigades promotes the military destruction of Israel, including the indiscriminate firing of rocket, mortar fire and suicide bombings. In March 2014, over 100 rockets were launched into southern Israel by PIJ and other Islamist groups. On 14 March,

Ramadan Shalah Ramadan Abdullah Mohammed Shalah (; 1January 1958 – 6June 2020) was a Palestinian militant and politician who served as the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) from 1995 to 2018. On becoming secretary-general of PIJ, Shalah was desig ...

, the then leader of PIJ, announced that the attack was coordinated with

. 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. 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. 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 The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

airstrike while attempting to launch rockets into Israel. 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. This time, Hamas made no effort to stand with or assist PIJ. 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. The AQB has participated in the ongoing

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

(2023-present), fighting alongside Hamas'

Al-Qassam Brigades Al-Qassam Brigades, also known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (EQB; ), are the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islamist organization Hamas. Led by Mohammed Deif until his death on 13 July 2024, Al-Qassam Brigades are ...

and other allied Palestinian factions.

References

External links

سرايا القدس (Saraya al-Quds)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quds Anti-Israeli sentiment in Palestine Jihadist groups Military wings of political parties Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Palestinian militant groups Military units and formations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Palestine Palestinian Joint Operations Room member groups