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Operation Pillar of Defense:
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On November 14, 2012, in response to a dramatic
escalation in rocket fire by terrorists operating within the Gaza Strip,
the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) launched military Operation Pillar of
Defense.
Learn More about the Terror Groups Operating in the Gaza Strip:
Hamas | Palestinian Islamic Jihad | Popular Resistance Committees
Hamas
Founded: 1987
Political Chief: Khaled Mashal
Prime Minister: Ismail Haniyeh
Foreign Minister: Mahmoud Zahar
Also Known As:
The Islamic Resistance Movement; Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya
Background: [LEARN MORE: CLICK HERE]
Hamas possesses military and political wings and came into being in late 1987 at the onset of the first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The armed element, called the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, conducts anti-Israeli attacks, including suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. Hamas also manages a broad, mostly Gaza-based network of “Dawa” or ministry activities that include charities, schools, clinics, youth camps, fund-raising, and political activities. After winning Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006, Hamas gained control of significant Palestinian Authority (PA) ministries in Gaza, including the Ministry of Interior. Hamas subsequently formed an expanded militia called the Executive Force, subordinate to the Interior Ministry. This force and other Hamas cadres took control of Gaza in a violent confrontation with Fatah in June 2007.
Strength & External Aid:
Several thousand Gaza-based operatives with varying degrees of skills in its armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; along with its reported 9,000-person paramilitary group known as the “Executive Force.”
Hamas receives funding, weapons, and training from Iran. In addition, the group raises funds in the Persian Gulf countries and receives donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world, through its charities, such as the Union of Good. Some fundraising and propaganda activity takes place in Western Europe.
In Their Own Words: [MORE QUOTES: CLICK HERE]
Ismail Haniyeh: "We (Palestinians) will never overlook even one span of Palestine's soil because Palestine is an endowed land and no person, leader, organization or group is entitled to the right to ignore this land ... Israel has no future in the Palestinian lands and our motto is that we will never recognize the Zionist regime." (Fars News Agency, October 27, 2012)
Khaled Meshal: "Hamas envisions a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 border with Israel, with Jerusalem as the capital, all Jewish settlements dismantled and full sovereignty over land, air and water." (United Press International, May 9, 2009)
Kana'an 'Obeid (Hamas Advisor): "Hamas must declare that it was formed to eliminate the state of Israel, and that Israel is an entity that must disappear. [Hamas] should declare that its political, military, and social plan is the liberation of all the land by means of resistance, and that the West bears the burden of [responsibility for] this aberrant entity [Israel]. This plan is Hamas' gateway to the Arab and Islamic world. We must present this to the West, so that it decides to stop backing Israel and realizes that it has made a mistake and must rectify it." (Al-Risala, October 8, 2012)
PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD
Founded: 1970s
Also Known As:
PIJ; PIJ-Shaqaqi Faction; PIJ-Shallah Faction; Islamic Jihad of Palestine
Background: [LEARN MORE: CLICK HERE]
PIJ was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in October 1997. Formed by militant Palestinians in Gaza during the 1970s, PIJ is committed to both the destruction of Israel through attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets and the creation of an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine, including present day Israel.
PIJ terrorists have conducted numerous attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets. PIJ continued to plan and direct attacks against Israelis both inside Israel and in the Palestinian territories. Although U.S. citizens have died in PIJ attacks, the group has not directly targeted U.S. interests. PIJ attacks in 2008, 2009, and 2010 were primarily rocket attacks aimed at southern Israeli cities, and have also included attacking Israeli targets with explosive devices. PIJ continued operations into 2011, claiming responsibility for a mortar attack in Sedero, Israel in February, and a rocket attack in Ashdod, Israel in March.
Strength & External Aid:
PIJ currently has fewer than 1,000 members. The group's senior leadership resides in Syria. Other leadership elements reside in Lebanon and official representatives are scattered throughout the Middle East.
Receives financial assistance and training primarily from Iran.
In Their Own Words:
Ramadan Shallah: "The Martyrdom-seeking [suicide] operations as a strategic option invented by the Palestinians, is an option which exists, we haven't abandoned it. However, the timing of [terror] operations, and the ability to execute those operations, are issues for the field [commanders]. For example, in the West Bank, there's the separation wall, which is an obstacle for the resistance [terror]. If it did not exist, the situation would be completely different." (Al-Manar TV, November 11, 2006)
Sheikh Khaled Al-Batsh (Senior Member): "In order to honor the prisoners who have been sentenced to lengthy periods of imprisonment, we must adhere to resistance and arrest (i.e., kidnap) occupation (i.e., Israeli) soldiers and settlers in order to have prisoners released. This is because the Palestinian resistance has shown that it is capable of kidnapping soldiers and holding them for a very long period, as has happened with Shalit (i.e., Gilad Shalit, kidnapped Israeli soldier held hostage since 2006 by Hamas), until Palestinian conditions are met." (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 1, 2011)
POPULAR RESISTANCE COMMITTEES
Founded: 2000
Also Known As:
PRC; Salah al-Din Brigades; Lijān al-Muqāwama al-Shaʿbiyya
Background: [LEARN MORE: CLICK HERE]
The organization was founded in September 2000, by Rafah resident Jamal Abu Samhadanaat and other former Fatah and Palestinian Security apparatus members. Its ranks also include ex-Hamas terrorists, some of whom were wanted by Israel and who joined the Palestinian Preventive Security apparatus, and operatives who belonged to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian.
The PRC (and its operational-terrorist wing, the Salah al-Din Brigades) is responsible for a large number of attacks against Israelis in the Gaza Strip, both civilians and soldiers. In the past, the organization attempted to set up operations in the West Bank as well. In January 2002, Akram Salameh ‘Atia Said was sent by Jamal Abu Samhadana from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to shoot at Israeli civilians and soldiers. He infiltrated through the fence at Kissufim, went to Lod and from there to Ramallah but was arrested on February 25, 2002 and sentenced to 24 years in prison.
In Their Own Words:
Jamal Abu Samhadanaat: "We have only one enemy. They are Jews. We have no other enemy. I will continue to carry the rifle and pull the trigger whenever required to defend my people ... the resistance must continue. This will be the nucleus of the future Palestinian army." (The Telegraph, April 23, 2006)
Zuhir al-Qaisi (Former Secretary General): "Israel has tried to pressure us by killing a large number of activists following the abduction, but the resistance and the Palestinians have held their ground." (Yediot Aharonoth, March 10, 2012)
