Explained | What is Islamic Jihad, the group blamed for deadly blast in Gaza hospital

Hundreds of Palestinians were killed in a massiveexplosion at Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. The Gaza Health Ministry pegged the numbers to at least 500, with the casualties expected to rise.

The Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, housed the injured and other Palestinians seeking shelter.

The ministry alleged that Israeli warplanes bombed the Ahli Baptist Hospital.

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However, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) denied that it was responsible for the attack, it instead blamed a "misfired rocket" by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.

What is Palestinian Islamic Jihad?

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is regarded as the second-largest armed group in Gaza. Though quite active in the region, its operations were often overlooked due to the dominating presence of the larger Hamas organisation, which has controlled and governed Gaza since 2007.

Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad is also a US-designated terrorist group.

The group was founded in the 1980s in the Gaza Strip by Fathi Shaqaqi and Abd al-Aziz Awda, who were students in Egypt and members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist social movement founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928.

Sometime in the late 1970s, the two felt that the Brotherhood was not fully committed to the Palestinian cause, and hence spawned an offshoot to fight the Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.

Both were heavily inspired by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini-led Iranian revolution.

But in 1981, the group got split from the Muslim Brotherhood, and was exiled to Gaza by the Egyptian government after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat.

It is believed that Iran’s Islamic regime supports both groups with funding and weapons.

Their ideology centred around reviving Islamic society by taking over the Holy Land, the historic region of Palestine that includes Israel, rather than through internal reform, like the Muslim Brotherhood.

The US, which designated Islamic Jihad a terrorist organisation in 1997, says the Islamic Jihad is committed to destroying Israel with the aim of creating an Islamic state that would include the West Bank, Gaza and Israel.

Differences between Islamic Jihad and Hamas

The core difference between Hamas and Islamic Jihad is that while the former accepts the state of Israel within its pre-1967 borders, the latter rejects this.

This is despite Hamas members continuingto call for Israel’s destruction.

Israeli military officials and analysts say Islamic Jihad is strongly influenced by Iran, whereas Hamas has more autonomy in its decision-making on the strip, reports Wall Street Journal.

Have Islamic Jihad and Hamas worked together before?

Islamic Jihad often acts independently of Hamas and is focused primarily on military confrontations. On some occasions, Hamas has stayed on the sidelines as Islamic Jihad has clashed with Israel. In other cases, Hamas has joined the Islamic Jihad in battling the Israeli military.

“But at times it is a tense relationship, especially when Hamas has exerted pressure on Islamic Jihad to stop attacks or retaliation against Israel," the New York Times report said.

What role did Islamic Jihad play in Oct 7 attacks on Israel?

Leader of Islamic Jihad Ziyad al-Nakhalah said in a televised speech that his fighters were holding 30 captives, following the brazen attack by Hamas militants on Israel.

What are the strengths and objectives of Islamic Jihad?

The latest figures on Islamic Jihad's strength are difficult to determine, but according to 2021 estimates their numbers range from about 1,000 to several thousand gunmen, according to the CIA's World Factbook.

The group also has a significant arsenal of rockets, mortars and anti-tank missiles. Islamic Jihad does not disclose such information.

Unlike Hamas, Islamic Jihad has not contested Palestinian parliamentary elections and appears to have no ambition to form a government in Gaza or the West Bank.

Attacks carried out by Islamic Jihad

The Islamic Jihad's usually employs suicide bombings targetting attacks on Israeli civilians and military personnel as their most potent modus operandi.

1987: Killing Of an Israeli military police commander in Gaza

1994: Car bomb attack killing nine and injuring 50 aboard a public bus

1995: Suicide bomb attack killing 18 soldiers and one civilian in Israel's Netanya.

1996: Suicide bomb attack at a Tel Aviv shopping mall killing 13 and injuring 75.

2003: Suicide bomb attack a a Haifa restaurant killing 22 and injuring 60.

What has Israel said about Islamic Jihad’s involvement in the hospital strike?

An Israeliarmy spokesperson addressed a press conference on Tuesday declaring that "an analysis of IDF operational systems indicates a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the hospital at the time it was hit. Intelligence from a few sources that we have in our hands indicates that the Islamic Jihad is responsible."

The office also told Israeli media that Israel is in possession of audio recordings in which Islamic Jihad members say out loud that they are responsible for the explosion.

(With inputs from agencies)

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