Al-Quds Brigades سرايا القدس | |
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![]() Members of Al-Quds brigades parade through Gaza | |
Active | 1981–present |
Status | Active |
Ideology | Palestinian Nationalism |
Motive(s) | The establishment of a sovereign, Islamic Palestinian state within the geographic borders of pre-1948 Mandatory Palestine |
Leader | Ziyad al-Nakhalah |
Spokesman | Abu Hamza[1] |
Opponent(s) | State of Israel |
Website | https://saraya.ps |
Al-Quds Brigades (AQB) (Arabic: سرايا القدس, Saraya al-Quds meaning Jerusalem Brigades) is the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ),[2][3] which was founded in 1981 by Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd Al Aziz Awda in Gaza.[4] It is now, the second largest militant group in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas. Currently the AQB's leader is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, who lives in Beirut, Lebanon.[5] The head of AQB in the Gaza Strip was Baha Abu al-Ata[6] until he was killed in a airstrike in November 2019.[7]