Al-Quds Brigades (AQB) – Islamic Jihad

The al-Quds Brigades (AQB) constitute the armed wing of Islamic Jihad (PIJ). It is the second-largest armed group in Gaza after HamasIzz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB). Islamic Jihad also has a growing presence in the West Bank where often its cooperates with Fatah‘s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas‘s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It is particularly active in the northern West Bank towns of Nablus, and Jenin where it operates under the umbrella of the so-called ‘Jenin Battalion’.

Following Israel’s assassination of the organisation’s founder Fathi al-Shikaki in 1995, AQB carried out numerous attacks against Israeli civilians, including suicide bombings. It has fought in several wars in Gaza against Israel.