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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The Next War: Gaza Commander Speaks to AlJazeera Net about Hamas-Islamic Jihad Unity and the ‘Joint Room’</h1>June 12, 2023</div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Joint-Operations-Room-678x455.png" alt="" title="Joint Operations Room" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="422" height="283">
The Joint Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions. (Photo: via Al Jazeera Net)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Staff">Palestine Chronicle Staff</a></strong></p><h3><strong>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.</strong></h3>
<p><span>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.’</span></p>
<p><span>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. </span></p>
<p><span>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</span><span> and the future wars. </span></p>
<p><span>Here are selected topics and translated comments based on the interview. For the full interview (Arabic), </span>click <a href="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">here</a><span>. </span></p>
<h4><b>What is the Joint Operation Room? </b></h4>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.”</span></p>
<h4><b>What Are the Current Military Wings of the Gaza Resistance? </b></h4>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<h4><b>How Palestinians Coordinate Their Resistance? </b></h4>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.”</span></p>
<h4><b>Does Palestinian Resistance Operate Based on a Centralized Decision-Making Process? </b></h4>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.”</span></p>
<h4><b>Did Israel Succeed in Isolating the Islamic Jihad in its Latest War on Gaza?</b></h4>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.”</span></p>
<h4><b>What is the ‘Unity of the Squares’?</b></h4>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><span>“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.</span></p>
<p><em><span>(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 <a href="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">here</a>)</span></em></p>
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