An explosion took place at the parking lot of the courtyard of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza on October 17, 2023, amid the Israel–Hamas War. The explosion resulted in an unverified number of fatalities and injuries. The local media reported that around a thousand displaced Palestinians took refuge at the hospital. A week after the incident, Israel has blamed a different terrorist organisation, and not Hamas, for the attack on al-Ahli Hospital. Although the organisation was founded several decades ago, Israel has condemned its activities in a rare first. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu has blamed this terrorist group for the Gaza hospital attack.

Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are fighting against the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza this time. These two outfits have some similarities, as well as some differences. The main similarity between Hamas and PIJ is that both groups claim to be fighting for the elimination of the State of Israel. However, Hamas also carries out a number of political and social activities in the Gaza Strip, besides running an armed organisation. On the other hand, PIJ seeks only to wipe Israel off from the map through war. Hamas won the General Elections in Palestine in 2006 and established its dominance in the Gaza Strip after the 2007 Civil War.

There are also two different contexts behind the creation of Hamas and PIJ. Hamas originally emerged in 1987 as a branch of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood. On the other hand, the PIJ emerged on the assumption that the Muslim Brotherhood had failed to deal with the Palestinian crisis. The co-founders of this outfit were Fathi Ibrahim Abdulaziz Shaqaqi (January 4, 1951 – October 26, 1995) and Abd Al Aziz Awda (also known as Sheik Awda; b. December 20, 1946 or 1950).

Shaqaqi and Awada came into contact with the Muslim Brotherhood while studying in Egypt. They left the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s to form the PIJ. They were particularly inspired by the Islamic Revolution of Iran led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (born Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi; May 17, 1900 – June 3, 1989). Initially, Iran did not give any importance to the PIJ, as the Shiite-majority Islamic Republic had not been able to extend its ideological influence in Palestine for a long time. After the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), Tehran managed to promote its fundamentalist and conservative ideology in Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan and Palestine. Iran was successful in some cases.

The US believes that Iran provides Hamas, PIJ and Lebanon’s Hezbollah with funds and weapons. After occupying Gaza, Israel forced all members of the PIJ to move to Lebanon. The US Defence Department has claimed that Iran continues sending more funds and weapons to PIJ after the outfit set up its base in Lebanon. The US has also blamed Syria for supporting the Palestinian outfit, with the Pentagon mentioning in a statement that the Bashar al-Assad Regime has turned Damascus into a paradise for the PIJ. The al-Assad Administration has taken no action against PIJ, despite thousands of complaints against the terrorist outfit.

After the assassination of former Egyptian President Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat on October 6, 1981, the PIJ left Cairo and established its base in Palestine. Although it coexists with Hamas in Gaza, the PIJ often operates independently and autonomously. Hamas tends to tread very carefully against Israel. However, the PIJ’s anti-Israel stance is even more strident and extreme. It has played a central role in many recent conflicts between Hamas and Israel. Hamas stays backstage as a strategy.

Designated a terrorist organisation by the US, the PIJ has killed thousands of Israelis in a series of suicide attacks from 1987 to 2003. Currently, it keeps all differences aside and coordinates with Hamas in launching attacks on Israel. Tel Aviv has claimed that the PIJ failed to launch a missile on October 17 (2023), causing the explosion at the hospital in Gaza. Although PIJ is yet to react, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have dismissed Israel’s claim.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das