Al-Qassam Brigades
The Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades (EQB)[12][note 1] (Arabic: كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, romanized: Katāib al-Shahīd 'izz al-Dīn al-Qassām, lit. 'Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam'), named after Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, is the military wing of the Palestinian nationalist organization Hamas.[13][15][16] Currently led by Mohammed Deif, EQB is the largest and best-equipped militant group operating within Gaza today.[13]
Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades
1991–present
Active
Hamas as a whole:
Created in mid-1991,[17] it was at the time concerned with blocking the Oslo Accords negotiations.[18][19] From 1994 to 2000, the Al-Qassam Brigades has claimed responsibility for carrying out a number of attacks against Israelis.[13]
At the beginning of the Second Intifada, the group became a central target of Israel. The Al-Qassam Brigades operated several cells in the West Bank. Most of them were destroyed by 2004, following numerous operations of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the region. In contrast, Hamas retained a forceful presence in the Gaza Strip, generally considered its stronghold. Yahya Sinwar, Hamas political leader in the Gaza Strip since February 2017, is a military leader in the Brigades in Gaza.[20][21]
The Al-Qassam Brigades are explicitly listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union,[22] Australia,[23] New Zealand,[24] Egypt,[25] and the United Kingdom.[26][27] Though not explicitly mentioning EQB, the United States[28][29] and Canada[30] have designated its parent entity, Hamas, as a terrorist organization;[31] Brigade leader Mohammed Deif is classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US under Executive Order 13224.[32][33] As the Brigades undertake military activity on behalf of Hamas, "organized terrorist activities associated with Hamas can be reliably attributed to the Brigades."[23]
History
Background
In 1984, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Ibrahim al-Makhadmeh, Sheikh Salah Shehada, and others began preparing for the establishment of an armed organization to resist Israeli control, with a focus on acquiring weapons for future resistance activities. Members of the group were, however, arrested and the weapons were confiscated.[17][41]
In 1986, Shehada formed a network of resistance cells, called al-Mujahidun al-Filastiniun ('Palestinian fighters'), who targeted Israeli troops and "traitors." This network operated until 1989, with their most famous operation being the 1989 kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers: Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon.[17][42]
Hamas was officially established on 14 December 1987, forming other similar networks as al-Mujahidun al-Filastiniun, such as the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.[42] In the summer of 1991, during the First Palestinian Intifada (1987–1994), the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades were established, with their first act being the assassination of the rabbi of Kfar Darom.[42]
Contemporary operations and activities
The international community, and more specifically the United Nations, considers the practice of war combatants using civilians as human shields to be a violation of the Geneva Conventions standards of war,[43][44][45] and considers indiscriminate attacks (e.g., by rockets or suicide bombers)[46] on civilian populations as illegal under international law.[47]
The EQB's transition to a recognised militant organisation began during the establishment of the Oslo Accords to assist Hamas efforts in blocking them.[48]
The year 2004 was pivotal in the development of Al-Qassam Brigades from a loosely-formed militia, into a structured organization with a defined chain of command.[49] The Israel Defense Forces (IDF)'s assassinations of local leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi resulted in decision-making power being transferred to leaders exiled in Damascus, which ultimately led to greater influence and funding from Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah.[50][49]
The Gaza strip was divided into six or seven regional divisions, headed by a division commander with responsibility over defined sectors of territory.[49] Each division commander oversaw regiment commanders and company commanders, who were responsible for small areas such as neighborhoods.[49] A focus on tunnel warfare was selected as a primary means of combating the IDF.[49]
On 3 August 2004, the first Yasin missile–a homebrew anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade–was launched.[51] The group developed other homemade weapons, such as rocket launchers (al-Bana, Batar) and the Qassam rocket.[52][53][23]
In 2003 and 2004, the Brigades in Gaza resisted incursions by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), including the siege of Jabalya in October 2004.
In 2005, as President Mahmoud Abbas had taken direct control of the PA security forces, which were loyal to the president's Fatah movement, the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip formed a separate 3,000-strong paramilitary police force, called the Executive Force,[54] consisting of Al-Qassam Brigades members.[55][56][57][58]
In June 2006, the Al-Qassam Brigades were involved in the operation which led to the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.[59] The Al-Qassam Brigades engaged in heavy fighting in the Gaza Strip during Operation Summer Rains, launched by the IDF. It was the first time in over 18 months that the brigades were actively involved in fighting against Israeli soldiers. In May 2007, the brigades acknowledged they lost 192 fighters during the operation.[60]
In January 2007, Abbas outlawed the Executive Force and ordered that its then-6,000 members be incorporated into the PA security forces under his command. The order was resisted by the Hamas government,[61] which instead announced plans to double the size of the force to 12,000 men.[62] The Al-Qassam Brigades and the Executive Force took part in the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007.
In June 2008, Egypt brokered a ceasefire, which lasted until 4 November when Israeli forces crossed into Gaza and killed six Hamas fighters. This resulted in an increase in rocket attacks on Israel, going from two in September and October to 190 in November 2008. Both sides said the other had broken the truce.[63][23][64]
Leaders killed by Israel or other causes
On 3 September 2005, after Israel's withdrawal from settlements in the Gaza Strip, the Al-Qassam Brigades revealed for the first time the names and functions of its commanders on its website as well as in a printed bulletin distributed to Palestinians.[101]
On 12 July 2006, the Israeli Air Force bombed a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, where Mohammed Deif, Ahmad al-Ghandur, and Raid Said were meeting. The three-story house was completely leveled, killing Hamas official Nabil al-Salmiah, his wife, their five children and two other children. Two of the three brigades leaders present escaped with moderate wounds. Deif received a spinal injury that required four hours of surgery.[102]
On 1 January 2009, Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas leader who served as a liaison between the Palestinian organization's political leadership and its military wing, was killed in an Israeli Air Force strike during Operation Cast Lead.[103] The day before the attack, Rayan had advocated renewal of suicide attacks on Israel, declaring, "Our only language with the Jew is through the gun".[104] A 2,000-pound bomb was dropped on his house, also killing his 4 wives (Hiam 'Abdul Rahman Rayan, 46; Iman Khalil Rayan, 46; Nawal Isma'il Rayan, 40; and Sherine Sa'id Rayan, 25) and 11 of their children (As'ad, 2; Usama Ibn Zaid, 3; 'Aisha, 3; Reem, 4; Miriam, 5; Halima, 5; 'Abdul Rahman, 6; Abdul Qader, 12; Aaya, 12; Zainab, 15; and Ghassan, 16).[105][106][107][108]
On 3 January 2009, Israeli aircraft attacked the car in which Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a leader of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam armed wing, was traveling. He died of the wounds suffered in the bombing.[109] The following day, the Israeli Air Force struck and killed in Khan Yunis two senior Brigrade leaders, Hussam Hamdan and Muhammad Hilo, both of whom the Israelis blamed for attacks against Israel. According to Israeli authorities Hamdan was in charge of rocket attacks against Beersheba and Ofakim, while Hilo was reportedly behind Hamas' special forces in Khan Yunis.[110]
On 15 January 2009, the Israeli Air Force bombed a house in Jabaliya, killing a prominent Brigades commander named Mohammed Watfa. The strike targeted the Palestinian Interior Minister Said Seyam, who was also killed.[111]
On 30 July 2010, one of the leaders Issa Abdul-Hadi Al-Batran, aged 40, was killed at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike.[112]
On 14 November 2012, Ahmed Jaabari, the head of the Al-Qassam Brigade, was killed along with seven others in Gaza, marking the beginning of Israel's "Operation Pillar of Defense".[16][113]
On 21 August 2014, an Israeli air strike killed Muhammad Abu Shamala, the sub-commander of Southern Gaza Strip; Raed al Atar, the commander of the Rafah company and member of the Hamas high military council; and Mohammed Barhoum.[114]
On 30 January 2018, Imad Al-Alami died as a result of injuries sustained while he was inspecting his personal weapon in Gaza City.[115]
Hamas confirmed in November 2023 that Israeli airstrikes had killed Ahmed Ghandour, the commander of the Al-Qassam Brigade in northern Gaza; Ayman Siam, head of the rocket-firing unit; and Fursan Khalifa, a senior commander in the West Bank, as well as Ghandour's deputy Wael Rajab.[116]
Marwan Issa, deputy leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades and second-in-command to Mohammed Deif, was reported to have been killed by Israeli forces on 10 March 2024.[117]
International response
The international community, and more specifically the United Nations, considers the practice of war combatants to turn civilians into human shields as a violation of the Geneva Conventions standards of war,[43][44][45] and considers indiscriminate attacks (e.g., by rockets or suicide bombers)[46] on civilian populations as illegal under international law.[47]
As the Brigades undertake military activity on behalf of Hamas, "organized terrorist activities associated with Hamas can be reliably attributed to the Brigades."[23]
The Al-Qassam Brigades are explicitly listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union,[22] Australia,[23] New Zealand,[24] Egypt,[25] and the United Kingdom.[26][27] Though not explicitly mentioning EQB, the United States[28][29] and Canada[30] have designated its parent entity, Hamas, as a terrorist organization;[31] Brigade leader Mohammed Deif has also been classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US under Executive Order 13224.[32][33]