Israeli raids destroy an entire neighborhood in Aitaroun, southern Lebanon

The October 7 operation constituted an unexpected blow to Israel, with which it seemed that the political leadership, the Israeli army, and the intelligence and intelligence system were in great failure, not only because of the factor of surprise through which Hamas stunned Israel, but also because the military capabilities of the seven most prominent brigades On the ground, especially Al-Qassam, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, seemed more developed than Israel knew or expected. The “Al-Qassam Brigades” is the most prominent military force among the armed wings in all the Palestinian territories, and the most numerous and well-equipped, while its fighters show extreme courage and high training.

In addition, there are other active and fighting factions in the Gaza Strip, the most important of which are reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Al-Qassam Brigades” (formerly Majd)

The Al-Qassam Brigades is currently the largest military force in the Gaza Strip and in all of the Palestinian territories. It was established at the beginning of 1988 under the name “Majd,” before it was given its current name a few months later. The name “Majd” remained associated with its secret security apparatus to pursue agents working for Israeli intelligence. One of its most prominent founders was Yahya Al-Sinwar, the current leader of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s most wanted man on charges of being behind the October 7 attacks.

The “Phalange” has gone through many stages since its inception, and began to emerge clearly in 1994, with the implementation of attempts to kidnap Israelis and its success in the first capture operation in the West Bank of soldier Nachshon Faxman, who was killed by Israeli forces along with his captors in a military operation near a village between Ramallah and Jerusalem. .

Al-Qassam became very famous for carrying out bombing operations inside Israel in the early 1990s. Yahya Ayyash, one of its most prominent leaders in the West Bank, became a symbol of the movement after Israel failed to assassinate or arrest him. He was nicknamed “The Engineer,” until he was assassinated in the Gaza Strip with a phone bomb in 1996. .

The bombing operations that characterized Al-Qassam continued in the Second Intifada, then it carried out the capture of soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, and succeeded in keeping him for many years, and forced Israel to conclude an exchange deal with it in 2011, under which it released 1,027 prisoners.

In 2007, Al-Qassam imposed its military control over the Gaza Strip following clashes with the security services of the Palestinian Authority, and settled its battle with the Authority in a few hours.

30 thousand fighters

Al-Qassam experimented with launching primitive missiles at Israel throughout the years of the Intifada. These were missiles that Palestinian officials described as “absurd,” but they surprised Israel at the beginning of 2009 by launching “Grad” missiles that reached about 50 km.

In subsequent years, Al-Qassam developed its strength, built open military positions, operated in a hierarchical organization, and recruited thousands into the ranks of its fighters, with estimates that it had about 30,000 fighters. Its forces are divided into “elite forces” and battalions affiliated with geographical regions, and it includes special units for tunnels, military manufacturing, and intelligence.

Al-Qassam has defensive and offensive tunnels that greatly worried the Israeli military system. It succeeded in using them extensively during the 2014 war, which lasted 51 days. It succeeded in hiding two Israeli soldiers whom it captured from the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and Rafah, south of the Strip, and their fate remains unknown until now.

The city of Tel Aviv was bombed with an Iranian-made Fajr missile for the first time in 2012, in response to the assassination of its prominent leader, Ahmed Al-Jaabari. Then it developed drones and dozens of missiles that surprised Israel in other rounds, battles and wars, as happened in the 2014 war, and the 2021 “Sword of Jerusalem” battle, which began by bombing the city of Jerusalem with several missiles, as well as in the current war.

The most prominent leaders killed by Israel were Yahya Ayyash, Imad Aql, Salah Shehadeh, Fawzi Abu al-Qara’, Ahmed al-Jabari, Raed al-Attar, and Ahmed al-Ghandour, while Muhammad al-Deif, the general commander of al-Qassam and No. 1 wanted for more than 30 years, survived a series of failed assassination attempts.

“Al-Quds Brigades” (Force No. 2)

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, is the second military force in the Palestinian territories. It was established at the beginning of the second Al-Aqsa Intifada, which broke out at the end of 2000.

At the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties, it operated under the name “Qatsm,” and during that era it carried out a series of attacks in Israeli cities, the West Bank, and Gaza. It also carried out similar attacks during the Second Intifada.

“Al-Quds Brigades” is more closely linked to Iran and Hezbollah than other armed wings, and it trained hundreds of its leaders and cadres in Iran and Syria, who returned to the Gaza Strip and manufactured missiles and drones, but it is of a lower degree in terms of influence and improvement of its capabilities, compared to With what the “Qassam Brigades” possess.

The number of Al-Quds Brigades fighters, according to rough estimates, is about 11 thousand fighters, and they possess light and medium weapons, thousands of medium-range missiles, and dozens of long-range missiles that reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. But as has been shown in many wars and rounds of escalation, it does not have missiles of the size or impact of the Qassam, nor does it have a large tunnel system like the Qassam.

Despite all this, for years it posed a clear challenge to the Israeli system, especially in the rounds of escalation that took place in Gaza during the past five years, in which Hamas refrained from participating.

Over the years, Israel assassinated many of the leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, most notably Muqallid Hamid, Bashir Al-Dabash, Aziz Al-Shami, Khaled Al-Dahdouh, Majed Al-Harazin, Bahaa Abu Al-Atta, Khaled Mansour, and many others from Gaza and the West Bank.

The movement emerged in the last two years, in the West Bank, through the “Jenin Brigade,” one of the most prominent military formations in the north of the West Bank, led by the “Jerusalem Brigades.” It carried out a series of armed attacks, while many of its leaders were assassinated, the last of whom was since the days of Muhammad al-Zubaidi.

“Al-Nasser Brigades”

“Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades” is the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees in Palestine. It was founded by Jamal Abu Samhadana, who was assassinated in 2006, at the beginning of the second Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000.

It is currently considered a relatively third force, includes about 5,000 fighters, and possesses dozens of missiles and mortar shells.

Its first operation was at the end of 2000, by detonating several large explosive devices on an Israeli tank, which led to the destruction of large parts of it, at the Netzarim Junction, and the killing of two Israeli soldiers at the time.

It received support from the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad movement, and during the years of the second intifada, it participated in a series of storming operations into settlements in Gaza prior to the withdrawal, with the participation of other factions, and its members killed many Israelis. Israel assassinated many of its leaders, including Kamal al-Nayrab and Zuhair al-Qaisi, who succeeded Abu Samhadana in leading the committees.

“Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades”

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement, is the fourth force after it was the first military force at the beginning of the “Al-Aqsa Intifada,” and at that time it carried out a series of major attacks against the Israelis, including attacks deep inside Israeli cities.

It was previously called by several names, including “The Storm,” and it fought many operations throughout the ages of Palestinian struggle inside and outside Palestine.

The “brigades” currently include, in their various military formations, about 2,000 fighters who possess light and medium weapons and dozens of homemade rockets, which only reach about 16 km from the Gaza border.

During the years of the second intifada, which was established at its beginning, the “brigades” carried out a series of sporadic shooting operations in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel assassinated many of its leaders, but over the years its presence in the Palestinian scene declined significantly, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced in 2007 its official dissolution and the emptying of its members from the security services.

Some of its men recently reappeared in Jenin and Nablus, and some of them were assassinated.

“Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades”

It is the military wing of the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” It was established under this name after the assassination of the Secretary-General of the Front, Abu Ali Mustafa, in 2001, in his office in Ramallah, as a result of a helicopter bombing.

It is currently considered the fifth force, and includes hundreds of fighters in Gaza and the West Bank, and possesses light and medium weapons and locally made missiles.

It carried out a series of attacks, most notably in response to the assassination of its Secretary-General, by assassinating the former Israeli Minister of Tourism, Rehavam Zeevi, in 2001 in a hotel west of Jerusalem.

Its current Secretary-General, Ahmed Saadat, was arrested, along with leaders from the Phalange, on charges of planning and participating in the operation in 2002 by the Palestinian security services. They were transferred to Jericho Central Prison, before Israeli forces stormed it in 2006, arrested them, and issued life sentences against them. The movement has hundreds of fighters.

“National Resistance Brigades”

It is the military wing of the “Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” and it operated under different names before the Al-Aqsa Intifada, before operating under this name.

It includes hundreds of fighters in its ranks, is considered the sixth force, and possesses light and medium weapons and locally made missiles.

It carried out a series of attacks during the long years of the Palestinian struggle and the second Al-Aqsa Intifada, and killed many Israelis, as well as many of its leaders and cadres.

“Mujahideen Brigades”

It is a military group emanating from the formations of the “Fatah” movement, before it announced its complete separation from it, and it receives funding from the Lebanese “Hezbollah” and the “Islamic Jihad” movement.

It includes hundreds of fighters, and it also possesses light and medium weapons and missiles that reach Ashkelon, Sderot and others.

Since the beginning of the second intifada, it has carried out a series of attacks, and Israel has killed some of its leaders.