[News] The Next War: Gaza Commander Speaks to AlJazeera Net about Hamas-Islamic Jihad Unity and the ‘Joint Room’

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/joint-room-and-unity-of-the-squares-what-will-the-next-israeli-war-on-gaza-look-like/>
The Next War: Gaza Commander Speaks to AlJazeera Net about Hamas-Islamic
Jihad Unity and the ‘Joint Room’June 12, 2023
------------------------------
The Joint Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions. (Photo: via Al
Jazeera Net)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*
*In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net Arabic, Ayman Nofal,
Commander of Military Relations and a member of the General Military
Council of Hamas’s military arm, Qassam Brigades, spoke about the last
Israeli war on Gaza and the future wars.*

A new political discourse has been shaped around the unity of the
Palestinian Resistance in Gaza and the West Bank. This unity discourse was
not a random occurrence, but an outcome of a process that began in 2018,
when leading military arms of the Palestinian movement formed the ‘Joint
Operations Room of Resistance Factions.’

Since then, the reference to ‘Palestinian unity’ shifted from that of
political unity – namely between leading Palestinian groups, Hamas and
Fatah – to the unification of armed resistance. Later, another term
emerged, Wihdat al-Sahat, or the Unity of the Squares, which expanded the
concept of unity to reach all forms of resistance throughout Palestine.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net Arabic, Ayman Nofal,
Commander of Military Relations and a member of the General Military
Council of Hamas’s military arm, Qassam Brigades, spoke about the last
Israeli war on Gaza in May and the future wars.

Here are selected topics and translated comments based on the interview.
For the full interview (Arabic), click here
<https://www.aljazeera.net/politics/2023/6/12/%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B5-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%86%D8%AA-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF>
.
*What is the Joint Operation Room? *

“The Joint Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions in its current and
final form was established in 2018, during the start of the return marches
(Great March of Return) in the Gaza Strip, and the events and
confrontations accompanying these marches. The need arose at that time to
establish a coordinating body between the factions to agree on the rules
and mechanisms of confrontation and manage the battle militarily with the
enemy.

“The Joint Room played its first round after its official formation in the
‘Loyalty to the Martyrs’ operation at the end of May 2018, after the
martyrdom of three resistance men from the Qassam Brigades and the
Jerusalem Brigades. The men (fighters?) were killed in a treacherous
artillery shelling by the enemy army. After the enemy army invaded our
rebellious people participating in the return marches, the Joint Room
imposed rules of engagement in its conflict with the enemy, that the
shelling is shelling and blood is blood.

“The Joint Room also played a major role in the ‘People’s Shield’ round in
May 2019 to repel the enemy from the incursion into the Gaza Strip, and its
major role was prominent in the ‘Sword of Jerusalem’ battle in 2021 from
the beginning of the battle to its end.”
*What Are the Current Military Wings of the Gaza Resistance? *

“Within the Joint Room are the vast majority of the military wings of the
Palestinian resistance factions, and we consider this one of their greatest
achievements, as they formed a comprehensive framework for the resistance
with its various political and intellectual spectrums and references.

“While the number of military cases before the formation of the Joint Room
reached more than 40, it is now 10 military wings, each of which has its
own political reference, as part of the chamber’s endeavor to organize
military action in a governmental and popular environment that incubates
resistance.

“The factions currently included in the Joint Room are: the Izz al-Din
al-Qassam Martyr Brigades, the Al-Quds Brigades, the Abu Ali Mustafa Martyr
Brigades, the National Resistance Brigades, the Nasser Salah al-Din
Brigades, the Mujahideen Brigades, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades-Nidal Al-Amoudi Brigades, the Jihad Jibril Martyr
Brigades, in addition to the Ansar Brigades.
*How Palestinians Coordinate Their Resistance? *

“There is a state of permanent communication and coordination between the
components of the Joint Room, in normal times and in times of emergency and
wars. The work of the Resistance is a continuous work and not only in a
time of confrontation and direct war,. Therefore, the room provides all
factions with appropriate facilities to work in multiple aspects that
cannot be fully detailed.

“However, we mention the provision of command and control systems,
strengthening communication between the components of the chamber in normal
times and in the event of war, providing operational and intelligence
situation assessments, sharing the aspect of logistical support and
armament according to specific mechanisms, as well as advancing practical
and fruitful steps towards unifying military knowledge to reach a common
understanding and a unified military and security knowledge background.

“From this standpoint, the Chamber’s leadership worked to enhance the
military knowledge and expertise of field commanders in the resistance
wings, so it enrolled a number of them to study at the Palestine Military
Academy of the Qassam Brigades, and several regiments graduated from the
Academy over the past years.

“The Chamber’s leadership established its own military site at the end of
last year, launched many joint training courses for military wing trainers
and fighters, and held the ‘Severe Corner’ exercises, which were the first
at the end of 2020. They then became a periodic annual exercise, not the
last of which are the ‘Severe Corner 3’ exercises in December 2022. These
exercises aim to raise the degree of combat efficiency of resistance
fighters and maintain high readiness.”
*Does Palestinian Resistance Operate Based on a Centralized Decision-Making
Process? *

“Of course, the Resistance is advancing year after year and developing its
work mechanisms, and benefiting from its experiences, whether in the aspect
of promoting achievements or correcting and addressing mistakes. Therefore,
the Resistance today has reached a stage where war and confrontation can
only be undertaken by a unified, collective and thoughtful decision; taking
into account the accumulation of force and dealing painful blows to the
enemy; and choosing the timing, place, form and tools of the battle, in
order to serve the goals of our people and inflict the maximum possible
harm to the enemy and thwart its plans.

“There is no doubt that some battles are imposed on our people to respond
to the barbaric aggression of the occupation. In all cases, the Joint Room
addresses the decision of confrontation. It is held before and during the
battle, whatever its cause, and proceeds in the rhythm of confrontation
systems, in consultation and coordination at the highest levels, in terms
of the size of the activation of the force, timings, shooting ranges and
sizes, and the nature of participation of the different factions, according
to considerations determined by the leadership of the chamber in
coordination, consultation and consensus, as well as the exchange of
information and assessments of the situation first-hand, to all the details
of military action that do not There is room for their narrative.

“Here, it must be emphasized that the wings of the Joint Room have their
political references, which consult with them in making the decision to
engage in confrontation, which is a unified collective national decision.”
*Did Israel Succeed in Isolating the Islamic Jihad in its Latest War on
Gaza?*

“The aggression against our people is one aggression and its title is one,
which is the Occupation. Perhaps, (the Occupation) wanted to single out the
Al-Quds Brigades in the last battle by focusing the targeting by
assassination on the leadership of the companies, headed by Commander
Khalil Al-Bahtini, one of the commanders of the Joint Room, as well as
Commander Jihad Al-Ghannam, Commander Tariq Ezz Al-Din, and later Commander
Hassan Ghali, Commander Ahmed Abu Daqqa and Commander Iyad Al-Hasani.

“But the Joint Room broke the enemy’s goal by singling out and closing the
operation file from its early hours, and we immediately led the room in
consultation with the leadership of the Al-Quds Brigades, which received
the flag from after the martyr commanders, and by managing the battle,
prolonging the response and silently controlling the course of the
confrontation in a thoughtful and consensual manner.

“Here, we would like to emphasize that the enemy should not be allowed to
single out any arena or front of confrontation, in Gaza, the West Bank,
Jerusalem and the occupied interior. Our people and their living forces
should take the initiative to thwart the enemy in singling out any area or
component, and to rise to scatter its cards and turn the tables on it, and
our people are able to do so with God’s help, and the facts and events have
clearly proven that.”
*What is the ‘Unity of the Squares’?*

“Gaza and its resistance are the spearheads in this trend, and the biggest
proof of this is that the Joint Room was strongly present in the battle of
the ‘Sword of Blessed Jerusalem’ in 2021, which confirmed the compass of
our people and their resistance against the enemy entity.

“The circles are expanding around Jerusalem, from Palestine occupied in 48,
through the West Bank, Gaza and the parties of the axis of resistance, to
the masses of the Arab and Islamic nation and the free world, and each role
is important and obligatory. Gaza, with its resistance and its common room,
is the long arm, the sword and the solid shield of these squares with its
proactive and strong national decision.

*(Editor’s Note: The above are selected translations from the full
interview in Arabic. The questions/ subheadings are the phrasing of The
Palestine Chronicle, not Al Jazeera Net. For the full interview, click here
<https://www.aljazeera.net/politics/2023/6/12/%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B5-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%86%D8%AA-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF>)*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20230612/61324267/attachment.htm>