Islamic Jihad: Palestinian terrorist group blamed for attack on hospital in Gaza Strip

Islamic Jihad fighters display large rockets during a large military parade in the Gaza Strip earlier this month Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Hamas has been thrust into the global spotlight following a deadly attack on Israel earlier this month.

But the lesser-known Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad is now in the spotlight after Israel accused it of attack on a hospital in the Gaza Strip, which is feared to have killed hundreds of civilians.

Islamic Jihad has the second largest armed division. network in Gaza after one commanded by Hamas, which runs the enclave, and took part in the October 7 attack on Israel from the territory.

Up-to-date data on the strength of Islamic Jihad is difficult to find. According to the CIA World Factbook, by 2021 the number of militants will range from 1,000 to several thousand.

The group is also believed to have a significant arsenal of rockets, mortars and anti-tank missiles.

In Tuesday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was responsible for the fatal attack on Ahly Arab Hospital. , in Gaza City.

The IDF says a missile fired by the group malfunctioned on its way to its target and ended up landing in a parking lot near a hospital complex.

On Tuesday, the United States said its own intelligence confirmed Israeli claims that the explosion was caused by a Palestinian missile misfiring, not an Israeli airstrike.

Islamic Jihad denied this, saying it had no activity in the Gaza City area at the time.

The group is part of the Alliance of Palestinian Forces (APF), which rejects the Oslo Accords and whose goal is the destruction of the Jewish state.

Islamic Jihad is ideologically opposed to any peace process and is considered by Israel as the most radical member of the Popular Front.

Founded in the late 1970s by Fathi Shikaki and Abdel-Aziz Odeh, Islamic Jihad gained support among Palestinians disillusioned with Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Shikaki was killed in 1995 in Malta, apparently by Israeli agents.

The recipient of Iranian funding and know-how, which Israel estimates is worth tens of millions of dollars a year, Islamic Jihad has overseas headquarters in Beirut and Damascus, as well as its operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, although more limited than in the Gaza Strip. has recently increased.

The group's armed wing, the Quds Brigade, has a long history of launching attacks on Israel, including a notorious series of suicide bombings targeting IDF soldiers in the 1990s.

Although Hamas and Islamic Jihad have a long and turbulent relationship, in a broad sense the two groups share the common goal of reclaiming what they consider Palestinian territory from Israel.

Islamic Jihad vows to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic state embracing what was British Mandate Palestine until 1948, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

Analysts believe the Israeli strikes were effective. Since the October 7 attack, Islamic Jihad's military capabilities have been significantly weakened.

However, the group has recently released statements boasting of its stockpile of rockets and mortar firepower. He also claims to have several Israeli hostages.