The hospital attack in Gaza has reportedly led to at least 200 deaths, and provoked international outrage around the world and violent protests on the streets of Amman, Tunis, Beirut and Tehran.
The Palestinian group Hamas accused Israel of conducting the airstrikes on al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. However, the Israeli army has blamed it on a misfired rocket attack by Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, the most radical terrorist organization operating in the Palestinian area.
However, the Islamic Jihad described as “lies” Israel’s accusations that it was behind the hospital strike.
Here is all you need to know about the Palestinian Islamic Jihad:
What is Islamic Jihad?
Islamic Jihad, also referred to as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is the second largest group in Gaza after Hamas, which has controlled and governed Gaza since 2007. The Sunni Islamist militant group is committed to establishing an Islamist Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel.
The armed group was founded in the 1980s in the Gaza Strip to fight the Israeli occupation. The group maintains a presence in both the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
The Islamic Jihad’s founders, Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd al-Aziz Awda, were members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a Sunni Islamist movement founded by Hassan al-Banna in the 1920s.
The two founders too inspired by the Iranian revolution in the 1970s led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and created an offshoot group for the destruction of Israel.
The group began its campaign against Israel in the 1980s. In 1987, it conducted several terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip before the first Intifada. The group’s military wing, al-Quds Brigades, has been involved in many attacks on Israeli targets since the 1990s.
It operates in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank and has a presence in Lebanon and Syria. Islamic Jihad, like Hamas, is designated a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States.
In the past, the rockets fired by the Palestinian armed groups, including Islamic Jihad, have occasionally malfunctioned and hit civilian neighbourhoods.
Difference Between Hamas and Islamic Jihad
Though Islamic Jihad is not linked to Hamas, it is aligned with the Palestinian armed group in the fight against Israel. While Hamas is based only in Gaza, Islamic Jihad maintains a presence in Lebanon and Syria and has offices in Tehran apart from operating in Gaza and the West Bank.
Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad also receives funds and support from Iran. The group sometimes operates independently of Hamas and also coordinates military activity against Israel.
According to a report in The New York Times, Islamic Jihad is focused primarily on military confrontations and on some occasions, the group has clashed with Israel while Hamas has stayed on the sidelines. Whereas, in other cases, Hamas has joined the Islamic Jihad in battling the Israeli military.
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