How the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has targeted Israel

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the militant group Israel says is the target of its latest Gaza bombardment, is an Iran-backed group founded in 1981 and committed to armed resistance against the Jewish state.

The group initially set up by students at the Islamic University of Gaza is seen as a sister organisation to Hamas who have controlled the Palestinian enclave since 2007.

Both were born out of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that was established in Egypt last century. While primarily based in Gaza, Islamic Jihad also has a strong presence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

Israel insists the group's ties with Iran, the Jewish state's top foe, have deepened. 

Prime Minister Yair Lapid noted that Islamic Jihad's leader, Ziad al-Nakhala, was in Iran when he authorised "pre-emptive" strikes against the group on Friday, citing the threat of attacks. 

"The head of Islamic Jihad is in Tehran as we speak," Lapid said, just hours after Israeli jets killed Taysir al-Jabari, one of the group's key military leaders in Gaza.

Major General Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, told Nakhala on Saturday during a meeting in Tehran: "We are with you on this path until the end."

In 1992, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, known as the Al-Quds Brigade, was founded. The group was led by enigmatic writer and doctor Fathi Shaqaqi until 1995, when he was assassinated in Malta by a hit squad sent by Israel's spy agency, Mossad. 

Designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union among others, Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for many suicide bombings targeting Israelis, notably through the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, from 2000 to 2005.

One of the group's most prominent attacks was in 1989 on a bus travelling between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that killed 16 people. 

Many of the group's senior leaders have been based in Damascus, Syria. They reject any negotiations with Israel and staunchly opposed the Oslo peace accords.

While the group regularly operates in coordination with Hamas, notably during an 11-day conflict with Israel last May, the ongoing conflict further highlights its independence. 

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad group said it fired more than 100 rockets at Israel on Friday, as an "initial response" to deadly Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. 

Israeli officials say air strikes on Gaza have targeted the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement rather than Hamas, the militant group which rules the enclave. 

The PIJ is a militant group allied with Hamas, both with a background in the Muslim Brotherhood, a shared hostility to Israel and an ideological commitment to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state.

Whereas Hamas leaders have made statements softening their commitment to the destruction of Israel, the smaller PIJ has made no such move and rejects any compromises with Israel.

On Friday, as he explained the airstrikes on Israeli television, Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the group as "an Iranian proxy that wants to destroy the state of Israel".

Friday's air strikes killed Tayseer al-Jaabari, a senior commander who Israel said was the commander of the movement's northern region, responsible for planning attacks against Israeli citizens and military targets.

While it does not have as many long-range rockets as Hamas, PIJ does have a significant arsenal of small arms, mortars, rockets and anti tank missiles and an active armed wing called the Al Quds, or Jerusalem Brigades, that has attacked many Israeli targets over the years.

Up-to-date figures on PIJ's strength are difficult to come by, with estimates from last year ranging from about 1,000 to several thousand, according to the CIA's World Factbook.

Both Hamas, which has fought five conflicts with Israel since 2009, and PIJ are listed as terrorist organisations by the West.

Both get funds and weapons from Iran, where PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah was reported to have been meeting Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the day of the strikes.

It maintains a significant presence in the West Bank town of Jenin, where Bassam al-Saadi, a senior leader of the movement was arrested last week, setting off the crisis that led to Friday's strikes.

However its focus on militant activity means it does not have anything like the same infrastructure or responsibilities as Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, in charge of government and day-to-day needs of more than 2.3 million people.

Little more than a year since the 11-day war of May 2021, which inflicted huge damage on Gaza's economy, Israel's explicit focus on PIJ targets appears intended to convince Hamas to stay out of the fighting itself.

Zvika Haimovich, a former commander of the Israel Air Defense Forces who served in previous operations against Gaza in 2012 and 2014, said there were significant disagreements with PIJ that could make Hamas stay out.

"The direct immediate interest of Hamas is not to join this operation," he said.

"If Hamas joins this operation it will change totally the situation that we are talking about."