Palestinian resistance groups’ joint operations

Jon Elmer 26 February 2024

On this week’s The Electronic Intifada livestream, I discussed the joint operations of the many resistance groups defending Gaza and broke down some of the combat videos recently published by each group.

The fighting groups maintain a joint operations room that brings together all the resistance factions across the political spectrum into a unified command under the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, which is by far the largest and most advanced of the forces in Gaza.

The joint operations room includes the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s National Resistance Brigades; the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades; Islamic Jihad’s Al Quds Brigades; the Popular Resistance Committees’ Nasser Saladin Brigades; the Fatah-adjacent al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades; the Mujahideen Brigades; and the Qassam Brigades.

I analyzed videos from the past week by all those groups, who comprise the joint operations room along with the PFLP-GC’s Jihad Jibril Brigades and the Ansar Brigades.

The Palestinian resistance factions have cooperated in various forms since Israel pulled its settlements and military installations from inside the Gaza Strip in 2005. But this current form dates back to 2018.

In a June interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, Ayman Nofal – a top commander in the Qassam Brigades who was killed during the first weeks of the war – described the idea and intent behind the joint operations room as an important development in the evolution of the armed struggle against the Israeli military occupation.

“The need arose at the time of the Great March of Return [in 2018] to establish a coordinating body between the factions to agree on the rules and mechanisms of confrontation and manage the battle militarily with the enemy,” Nofal said.

“There is a state of permanent communication and coordination between the components of the Joint Room, in normal times and in times of emergency and wars. The work of the resistance is continuous, not only in a time of confrontation and direct war,” Nofal told Al Jazeera.

At times, the groups train together and, as their videos show, fight together too.

You can watch my segment about the various resistance groups at the top of this article.

Yemenis destroy US Reaper drone

I also covered the resistance in Yemen, as Ansarullah and the Yemeni Armed Forces shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Hodeidah, as part of the battle in the Red Sea, on Israel’s southern front.
The MQ-9 Reaper is the top US surveillance and attack drone.

The Pentagon confirmed the loss of the drone, the second Reaper downed by the Yemeni Armed Forces since November.

Yemen’s effective blockade of Red Sea shipping to Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians, has led to an increased United States naval presence in the region and frequent exchanges of fire.

You can watch The Electronic Intifada livestream Wednesdays at 9am PST/12pm EST/5pm GMT, or any time thereafter on our YouTube channel.

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Jon Elmer

Jon Elmer is a contributing editor at The Electronic Intifada. He has reported extensively from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Gaza coverage on EI livestreams
Twitter/x @jonelmer