The recent battle of the "sword of Jerusalem" witnessed a remarkable repetition by the Palestinian resistance factions of the word "joint operations room" as the military entity that regulates its combat performance and the nature of its attacks against the occupation. It is an attempt by the resistance forces to unify their word, striking a single arc and controlling the field.
When was the joint operating room established?
It was first announced in Gaza in 2006, and appeared in its initial form between the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya al-Quds, respectively.
The National Accord Document in May 2006 stipulated "the formation of a united resistance front for resistance against the occupation, the coordination of its work, and the formation of a unified political reference for it."
When the return marches broke out on the borders of the Gaza Strip in mid-2018, the operations room was officially announced in July of the same year.
The preferred formula for the Palestinian resistance has become to wage its confrontation with the Israeli occupation through this room, far from the individual confrontation of each faction separately, and with the passage of time the Chamber’s work has evolved and it has started issuing military statements in its name, with the exception of some special cases.
On the military level, the work of the operations room is to plan the implementation of joint military operations, which increased the pressure on the occupation army and its security services, and at the same time highlighted the cohesion and solidarity of the resistance, and its willingness to agree on a field unit, and the field military coordination is the highest form of cooperation and coordination that characterized relations. Mutual resistance between wings.
Who are the armed wings that fall under the banner of the room?
The operations room includes 12 military wings, which are: the Martyr Ezz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the Al-Quds Brigades, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades - Al-Amoudi Brigade, the Martyr Abdel Qader Al-Husseini Brigades, Al-Nasser Salah Al-Din Brigades, the Palestinian National Resistance Brigades, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and the Martyr Jihad Jibril Brigades The Ansar Brigades, the Mujahideen Brigades, the groups of the martyr Ayman Judeh, and the Asifah Army.
The armed wings consider that their joint fight against the occupation bears the seeds of forming a national army to confront it without one faction taking over another, but with operational field coordination, to involve all factions to implement joint operations, especially since their political programs are close, which makes this approach strategic and not tactical.
The Joint Operations Room issues unified statements confirming its readiness to confront any Israeli aggression, although the Chamber does not confiscate the independence of each wing, nor does it seek to fully integrate it with the rest of the wings, as each has its own identity.
What is the main purpose of forming a common room?
It is no secret that Hamas and its military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, are the ones leading the armed resistance, and they have sought to open the door for participation in this room to transform the resistance into a popular daily culture for the Palestinians, and to work for the success of its ideological line, because it created a competitive atmosphere between the factions.
As for the operational side, the implementation of joint attacks burdens Israel militarily and disperses its security investigations, and Hamas wants to involve the factions with it to strengthen the unified Palestinian position, so that each armed wing does not appear alone in confronting Israel as it is unique to it.
Moreover, Al-Jazeera Net has learned from Palestinian military circles that Al-Qassam Brigades supply a number of wings participating in the operations room with some different weapons - shells, ammunition and mechanisms - without embarrassment or sensitivity, in the desire not to remain an armed faction suffering from a shortage of what it needs from Combat means.
Are there other tasks for the joint operating room?
In the last days of 2020, the Gaza Strip witnessed, for a period of two days, the implementation of the largest military maneuver of the Joint Operations Room called "the hard corner", which included the implementation of land, sea, and air exercises with live ammunition under the cover of drones that flew over the strip, during which experimental missiles were fired towards the sea.
The operations room at the media level has consistently issued joint statements issued by it in a unified manner, whether on joint operations against the occupation, or announcing specific positions towards political developments, or field developments, which gave it legal and field strength as it expresses the cooperation of the resistance factions, and consecrates positions on which it is gathered. .
The Palestinians expect the joint operations room to form a unified resistance front for them in the future, and in addition to the collective military performance, the Palestinian endeavor leads to the issuance of one political decisions, and the gathering of the capabilities of the resistance forces with one vision, which serves the plan to protect the Palestinian people from the Israeli occupation, and mitigate That is, Palestinian losses, and that it is far from immediate tactics, but rather thinking strategically.
What are the benefits of forming a joint operating room?
The Palestinian resistance factions sought to establish this body to achieve a number of goals, the most important of which are:
Not leaving the military arena to the individual interpretations of this or that armed faction, which resulted in what the Palestinians call the "unity of the situation" in the field.
Preventing the success of the occupation intelligence services' attempts to entrap the military factions and confuse their combat plans.
Supplying the major armed forces - such as Hamas - with smaller factions with military capabilities, and giving them the opportunity to use them in their name sometimes without embarrassment, in order to maintain collective performance, and to contribute to all factions in repelling any aggression.
Demonstrating a unitary combat scene would enhance the Palestinian public’s confidence in the idea of a united, not factional, resistance.
Maintaining the reserve stock of weapons in the various wings, and not giving the occupation the opportunity to target a specific faction to deplete its combat capabilities, in preparation for moving to another faction.
How does the joint operations room operate in the field?
The military plans according to which the common room and the wings that fall under its banner are operating surround a lot of secrecy, but it is customary for the factions to divide roles between them, for while the main ones take charge of striking the Israeli rear with missiles, the other groups bear striking the Gaza envelope with short shells, and the task of occupying the occupied ground forces is assigned to a third division To block any progress towards Gaza.
The joint operations room assumes the task of approving the armed action tactics of the Palestinian factions, because its importance lies in achieving the widest popular factional base in support of the armed resistance, and integrating all forces into it, which means that a mass majority adopts this option as a joint project.
Indeed, the joint operations room succeeded in neutralizing political differences between the Palestinian factions in favor of unity in the field of resistance, so the flags united and the colors disappeared, because confrontation and defense of the land did not tolerate this difference, especially in difficult moments when the resistance faced two options: either martyrdom or returning victorious .
Are there military security risks from the operating room?
Despite the Palestinians praising the work of the Joint Military Operations Room, there are security concerns related to the possibility of leaking military secrets to the armed wings and their access to Israeli intelligence, which makes the resistance an element of surprise and makes it an open book to the Israeli army.
Therefore, the Palestinian military commanders may be content with issuing orders to their field fighters without informing the other faction about the dates, locations, and weapons used in order for Israel not to obtain them.
Sometimes, and out of keenness to gain more mass popularity, some armed wings - especially the smaller ones - resort to adopting some operations carried out by major factions, but the latter's keenness to meet the word may prevent them from entering into disputes over responsibility for this or that operation. As long as the greater goal has been achieved through thickening in the enemy.