With the success of 6 Palestinian prisoners - including 5 from the Islamic Jihad movement - in escaping recently from the highly fortified Israeli prison Gilboa;
The name of the movement came to the fore strongly.
When did the movement originate?
Who are its most prominent leaders?
What about its intellectual and ideological orientations?
What are the principles and general objectives of the movement?
What about its means to achieve these goals?
Pictures of the martyr Fathi Al-Shaqaqi, the former leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, climbing a wall in one of the streets of Gaza (Al-Jazeera)
Birth and founding
The Islamic Jihad movement is one of the most prominent Palestinian resistance movements. It adopts the option of resistance and refuses to enter the political process. It considers Palestine an Arab Islamic land from the river to the sea, and it is forbidden by Sharia to neglect any inch of it.
The movement was founded in the late seventies by its founder and general secretary, Dr. Fathi Shikaki, with a group of Palestinian youth during their university studies in Egypt.
In the early eighties, after the return of Shikaki and others to Palestine, the organizational base of the jihad movement was built, and the organization began to engage in popular and political mobilization in the Palestinian street alongside armed jihad against Israel, as the only solution to liberate Palestine.
On October 26, 1995: Shiqaqi was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad in the city of Sliema, Malta, and his successor in the movement's leadership was Abdullah Shallah, who resides in Damascus.
After the assassination of Fathi al-Shaqaqi, the General Secretariat of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, who was placed under house arrest in August 1983 by Israel and restricted his activities and movements.
The "military wing"... Operations and battles
In the second half of the eighties, the military and security wing of the movement was formed under the name "Saif al-Islam Brigades".
With the beginning of the nineties, the movement, led by the leader Mahmoud Arafat Al-Khawaja, changed the name of the military wing to the "Mujahideen Islamic Forces", known by the acronym "Qassem".
During the second Palestinian intifada that broke out in 2000, Israel accused Shallah of direct responsibility for a large number of jihad operations against Israeli targets.
Qism carried out several major operations, the most famous of which are "Beit Lid", "Dizengov", "Kfar Darom", "Netzarim", "East Jabalia" and "Morag".
The name of its military wing was changed to "Al-Quds Brigades", which carried out several martyrdom operations during the Al-Aqsa Intifada.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States of America placed the movement on the list of terrorist organizations.
March 9, 2012: "Al-Quds Brigades" fought the "Breaking of Victory" battle in response to the assassination of the Secretary-General of the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, Sheikh Zuhair al-Qaisi, during which it lost 14 fighters from the missile unit that fired 185 missiles and shells at Israeli settlements.
The movement also fought the battles of "Blue Sky", "Breaking the Silence" and "The Structured Building" against Israel.
2003: The US administration included Shallah on the list of those it considers "terrorists" under US law, and a list of 53 charges was issued against him by the US Federal Regional Court for the Central District of Florida.
The Oslo Agreement.. Legislative elections
2003: The movement opposed the Oslo agreement, and participated in the resistance operations with its military wing, "Al-Quds Brigades". It also refused to participate in the political process and boycotted the Palestinian legislative elections.
2006: The movement announced its boycott of the legislative elections in which Hamas won 74 seats and Fatah won 45 of the 132 seats.
The former Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement Ramadan Abdullah Shallah (Al-Jazeera)
2007: The United States added Ramadan Shallah to the list of the "Rewards for Justice" program, which offers rewards for those who help arrest wanted men, and offered $5 million for his arrest.
July 17, 2010: The Egyptian authorities released two leaders of the movement, Ahmed Hajjaj and Talal Abdel-Al, after two months' detention, and brought them into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.
July 2012: The movement's leaders left Syria.
July 15, 2014: The movement rejected the Egyptian armistice initiative after the Israeli aggression, saying that it "does not meet the needs of our people and the conditions of the resistance in which it was not consulted."
The movement tried to calm relations between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the rulers of Egypt. Its Secretary General, Dr. Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and his deputy, Ziad al-Nakhala, visited Egypt, and they held meetings with government officials about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Rafah crossing.
2014: The launch of the "Al-Sabireen Movement" in Gaza, led by the former leader of the military wing of Islamic Jihad, Hisham Salem, with Iranian support and a slogan similar to the Lebanese Hezbollah's slogan, which sparked a wave of anger among the movement.
May 1, 2015: A delegation of the movement's leaders headed by its Secretary-General, Ramadan Shallah, visited Iran, and met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and a number of Iranian officials.
May 17, 2015: The movement closed the office of its satellite channel “Palestine Today” in Jerusalem, and reduced its employees in Ramallah and the cities of the West Bank, as well as at its headquarters in Gaza due to the financial crisis.
May 26, 2015: Informed sources revealed to Al Jazeera Net a "severe dispute" between the Secretary-General of the movement, Ramadan Shallah, and "high" Iranian leaders.
March 11, 2016: Israeli forces raided the offices of "Palestine Today" satellite channel in the West Bank, arrested its director and staff, and closed it down on charges of inciting violence.
April 2018: Press sources reported that Shallah, 60, is in a coma and is receiving treatment in a Lebanese hospital.
Ziad Nakhaleh, Secretary General of the movement (Al Jazeera)
September 27, 2018: Ziad al-Nakhala was elected as the new Secretary-General of the movement, to succeed Ramadan Shallah (the patient), in the first internal elections it has held since its founding three decades ago.
June 6, 2020: The movement announced the death of its Secretary-General, Ramadan Shallah, at the age of 62, after a long struggle with illness.
May 17, 2021: The movement announced the martyrdom of the commander of its military wing, "Al-Quds Brigades", in the northern Gaza brigade, Husam Abu Harbid (37 years), in an Israeli air strike.
September 6, 2021: 5 prisoners of the movement in Israeli prisons - Mahmoud Abdullah Ali Ardah, Fouad Nayef Kammaji, Muhammad Qassem Ahmed Al-Ardah, Yaqoub Mahmoud Ahmad Qadri, and the activist Yaqoub Abdul-Jabbar Anfiat - managed to escape from Gilboa prison, along with them. The sixth prisoner of the Fatah movement is Zakaria Muhammad Abd al-Rahman al-Zubaidi.
Path and ideological orientation
The movement adopts the Islamic approach, and says that it adheres to Islam as a creed, Sharia and a system of life, a tool for analyzing and understanding the nature of the struggle the Islamic nation is waging against its enemies, and a basic reference in formulating the Islamic Action Program for mobilization and confrontation.
It considers that Palestine is an Arab Islamic land extending from the river to the sea, and it is forbidden by law to neglect any inch of it, and that the existence of the Zionist entity is null and forbidden by Sharia to recognize any part of it.
It believes that the Islamic and Arab masses are the true depth of the jihad against Israel, and the battle for the liberation of Palestine and the purification of all its soil and sanctities is the battle of the entire Islamic nation, and they must contribute to it with their full physical and moral potentials and energies.
The movement believes that the unity of Islamic and national forces on the Palestinian arena and meeting on the battlefield is a prerequisite for the continuation and solidity of the nation’s jihad project against Israel, and that all settlement projects that recognize the Zionist presence in Palestine or waive any of the nation’s rights in it are null and void.
The Islamic Jihad movement believes, since its inception, that Israel represents the spearhead of the contemporary Western colonial project in its comprehensive civilized battle against the Islamic nation. Islamic.
The movement does not hide its strong relations with Iran, which is its main financial and military supporter.
Al-Jihad rarely talks about its position on what is happening in Syria, and it presents dialogue as the only option to resolve the escalating crisis there, while rejecting any external interference under any description.
Movement goals
The Jihad movement seeks to achieve the following goals:
The liberation of all of Palestine, the liquidation of Israel, and the establishment of the rule of Islam on the land of Palestine, which guarantees the achievement of justice, freedom, equality and consultation.
Mobilizing the Palestinian masses and preparing them for jihad, militarily and politically, with all possible educational, educational and organizational means to qualify them to carry out their jihad duty towards Palestine.
Awakening and mobilizing the masses of the Islamic Ummah everywhere and urging them to play their historic role to fight the decisive battle with Israel.
Working to unify committed Islamic efforts towards Palestine, and to consolidate the relationship with friendly Islamic and liberation movements all over the world.
Calling to Islam with its creed, Sharia and etiquette, conveying its pure teachings comprehensive to the various sectors of the people, and reviving its civilizational message to the nation and humanity.
means of "jihad"
To achieve its goals, the Jihad movement relies on the following means:
Practicing armed jihad against the goals and interests of Israel.
Preparing and organizing the masses, attracting them to the ranks of the movement, and rehabilitating them comprehensively according to an approach derived from the Qur’an, Sunnah and the nation’s righteous heritage.
Extension of reasons for contact and cooperation with Islamic and popular movements and organizations and liberation forces in the world to support the jihad against Israel, and to oppose the global Zionist influence.
Seeking to meet the Islamic and patriotic forces of the people working on the battlefield against Israel, on the basis of not recognizing this entity, and building the formations, organizations, and popular institutions necessary for the advancement of Islamic and revolutionary action.
Taking all educational, organizational, cultural, social, economic, media, political and military means, which are permitted by Sharia and mature by experience in order to achieve the goals of the movement.
Use all available and appropriate methods of influence and communication from known and emerging means of communication.
The movement’s institutions and organizations adopt methods of study, planning, programming, evaluation and control in order to ensure the movement’s stability and progress.
Most prominent leaders
Among the most prominent leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine:
Fathi Shikaki (Founder)
Ramadan Abdullah Shallah (the late Secretary-General)
Ziad Nakhaleh (current Secretary-General)
Abdul Aziz Odeh
Mohammed Al Hindi
Nafez Azzam
Khaled Al-Batsh
Khader Habib
Abdel Fattah Hajjaj
Ahmed Al Mudallal
Anwar Abu Taha
Ibrahim Al-Najjar
Abdullah Al Shami
Abu Jaafar Nasser
Jamil Youssef
Akram Al-Ajouri
Ismail Saleh Al-Sindawi
Khader Adnan
Ahmed Baraka
Abu Emad Al-Rifai
Nasser Abu Sharif
Mohammed Al-Bazour
Bassam Al Saadi
Muhamed Al Najar.