Army of Islam ( ''Jaysh al-Islām''), officially The Army of Islam Group in Jerusalem (''Jama'at Jaysh al-Islam fi Bayt al-Maqdis''), is a Salafi Jihadist militant organization 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 ...

. It was founded by the Doghmush clan in 2006, and is based in the Tzabra neighborhood in the center of the Gaza Strip. The group has been designated a

terrorist organization Several national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and former ...

by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

History

The Army of Islam was founded in late 2005. The Army of Islam split from Hamas due to the members agreeing with Al-Qaeda's ideology which goes against Hamas'. The Army of Islam never fully gained the support of Al-Qaeda nor did it get any praise during its early years in activities, though the Army of Islam became allies with Tawhid al-Jihad and, later, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis which led to the organization pledging

bay'ah ''Bayʿah'' (, "Pledge of allegiance"), in Islamic terminology, is an oath of allegiance to a leader. It is known to have been practiced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Bedouin culture it was a procedure for choosing the leader of the trib ...

to the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

and its leader at the time,

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed hims ...

. An Israeli helicopter strike killed Army of Islam senior leader Mohammed Jamil al-Nemnem, 27, in Gaza City on 3 November 2010. Nemnem was second-in-command to Mumtaz Doghmush. Egypt had reportedly tipped-off Israel that Nemnem was helping plan an attack on the

Multinational Force and Observers The Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) is an international peacekeeping force overseeing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The MFO generally operates in and around the Sinai peninsula, ensuring free navigation through ...

in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

. In a subsequent statement, Israel claimed Nemnem was involved in directing multiple terrorist attacks targeting Israelis in recent years. Following the Nemnem strike, the

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 ...

killed group members Mohammed and Islam Yassif in a drone strike on 17 November 2010. The strike was coordinated with Israeli

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

and occurred around dawn on a busy street in Gaza City, and cited the same security issues as that in the killing of Namnam. In 2015, the group had reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and joined as a part of the Islamic State – Sinai Province. By 2018, the group faced increasing repression by Hamas which was unwilling to tolerate its extremist activities. In turn, the group considers Hamas an

apostate Apostasy (; ) is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous religious beliefs. One who ...

organization, and has called upon Muslims to carry out lone wolf attacks against Israel.

Ideology

According to the U.S. government, the group is Salafist and combines a global jihad ideology with Palestinian armed resistance. As of 2011, the group was attempting to deepen its contact with al-Qaida. After the death of

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, Army of Islam's Al Nur Media Foundation released a eulogy. The group appears to draw inspiration from, or is linked to,

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

, and has conducted at least one bombing of a Palestinian civilian target (an empty school) and a number of other kidnappings. The group was originally closely related to

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 ...

, but its extremist stances eventually alienated both Hamas and

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

. The group has also been known as ''The Organization of jihad in Palestine'' and is linked to Abu Qatada, the British-based Palestinian-Jordanian extremist

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

who they demanded be released in exchange for Johnston.

Activities

The group has been responsible for a number of attacks in Israel and Egypt and Western citizens, including the kidnappings of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and two Fox News journalists in 2006 and British journalist Alan Johnston in 2007. In 2011, the group told the French security services that they had planned an attack on the Bataclan theatre because its owners were Jewish. A limited number of fighters belonging to the group travelled to Syria from 2012 to fight in the Syrian Civil War; several of these volunteers were killed in combat. In 2016, the Army of Islam released a eulogy for the

's commander Abu Omar al-Shishani after he was killed in fighting in al-Shirqat,

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Nevertheless, the group has not openly admitted any links to ISIL.

Kidnapping of Alan Johnston

In March 2007 the group kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston. On 25 June 2007 the group released a video showing Johnston with an explosive belt around his waist, with a demand for the release of Muslim prisoners in British custody. The group also kidnapped ten members of Hamas and claimed they would kill Johnston if there was an attempt to rescue him. On 4 July 2007, after Gaza authorities arrested several members of the group including spokesman Abu Muthana, and following threats of

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

, Johnston was handed over to Hamas officials and released after 114 days in captivity.

Alexandria bombing

The group has been linked with the 2011 bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria that resulted in 23 deaths. Egypt's Interior Minister said on 23 January that evidence proved that the group planned and executed the attack. The group quickly denied responsibility, while also reportedly expressing support for the bombing.

References