The Palestinian Joint Operations Room (Arabic: غرفة العمليات المشتركة, romanized: Ghurfat al-ʿAmaliyyāt al-Mushtaraka), also known by its full name Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions (Arabic: الغرفة المشتركة لفصائل المقاومة الفلسطينية, romanized: al-Ghurfa al-Mushtaraka li-Faṣāʾil al-Muqāwama al-Filasṭīniyya), is a united front for the military wings of the Palestinian armed factions. It includes armed groups from various backgrounds, and ideologies from both the right and the left, including Islamists, socialists, nationalists, and others.[4]
The Joint Operations Room is managed from the Gaza Strip, but forms a single battlefront against Israel from wherever Palestinian militant forces are located, without being confined to a specific geographic area.[5]
Background
It was formed for the first time in 2006 in order to unite against Israel during clashes and wars and included Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement, but it fell into obscurity. It was then developed, expanded, and was formed under its current name on July 23, 2018, among 12 military wings after clashes around Al-Aqsa Mosque, the most prominent of which was the installation of electronic gates there by Israel, in what is considered Israeli-occupiedEast Jerusalem.[1] It currently consists of 12 different armed groups, and has coordinated a large number of attacks on Israel including the October 7 attacks,[6] and has also coordinated defence and retaliations against Israeli attacks.[7][8]Ayman Nofal in May 2023 explained the goals and organization of the room, which he said was to create an inter-organizational alliance to coordinate operations, and increase the potential of the "Palestinian Resistance", and for it to "become a comprehensive framework for all the organizations, networks and fighters, without exception".[9] He also gave a list of the 9 factions out of 12 which he said were "fully unified under the room".[7]
^"Hamas' October Attacks and the Israeli War on Gaza: Reflections from Palestinians". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2024-10-03. All Palestinian armed factions now work within a joint operations room managed in Gaza, forming a single battlefront against Israel from wherever Palestinian resistance forces are located, without being confined to a specific geographic area.
