Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Ziyad al-Nakhalah (Arabic: زياد النخالة, sometimes Ziad Nakhale;[2] April 6, 1953) is a Palestinian militant who has been the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ),[3] a group that opposes Israel and has been declared a terrorist organization by several countries, since 28 September 2018.[4] He is believed to live in either Lebanon[5][6] or Syria.[7]

Ziyad al-Nakhalah
زياد النخالة
al-Nakhalah in 2022
Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Assumed office
28 September 2018
Preceded byRamadan Shalah
Personal details
Born (1953-04-06) April 6, 1953
Khan Yunis, All-Palestine Protectorate
Political partyIslamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Residence(s)Beirut, Lebanon and Damascus, Syria[1]

Biography

Ziyad al-Nakhalah was born on 6 April 1953 in Khan Yunis, Gaza, then under Egyptian occupation.[8][9] His father was killed in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. Al-Nakhalah trained as a teacher in Gaza City.[10]

In 1971, al-Nakhalah was sentenced to life imprisonment in Israel because of his militant activities with the Arab Liberation Front. He was one of the 1,150 security prisoners released by Israel on 21 May 1985 in a prisoner swap under the Jibril Agreement.

After his release from Israeli prison, then-PIJ secretary-general Fathi Shikaki tasked al-Nakhalah with establishing in the Gaza Strip the group’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.[8] Al-Nakhalah was detained again by Israel in April 1988 for his role in the first Intifada, and was exiled to Lebanon in August 1988 with other PIJ leaders.

Al-Nakhalah became deputy secretary general of PIJ in 1995.

On 23 January 2014, al-Nakhalah was designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the United States, resulting in his property and interests in the United States being frozen.[11] The US also offered a $5-million reward for information leading to his capture.[8]

Al-Nakhalah was elected secretary general of PIJ on 28 September 2018, succeeding Ramadan Shalah, who suffered a series of strokes in April 2018.[11][4]

References
  1. "Iranian president meets with Hamas, PIJ during Syria visit". The Cradle. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  2. Ward, Euan (25 October 2023). "Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders met to plot a path to 'victory.'". The New York Times. In a photo of the meeting released by Hezbollah's news media arm, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Lebanese militant group and political party; Saleh Al-Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas; and Ziad Nakhale, the secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, sit beneath framed portraits of Iran's supreme leaders.
  3. Ynet (2022-04-18). "Rocket fired from Gaza, intercepted over border communities, IDF says". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  4. "Islamic Jihad Names New Chief to Replace Ill Long-time Leader". haaretz. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  5. "Profile of Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the New Palestinian Islamic Jihad Leader". The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  6. "Who is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the Islamic Jihad's Beirut-based chief?". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  7. IDF: Islamic Jihad 'deliberately' fired rocket that landed offshore
  8. Who is Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the Islamic Jihad's Beirut-based chief?, The Jerusalem Post
  9. من هو زياد نخالة؟. almanar (in Arabic). 28 September 2018.
  10. "السيرة الذاتية للأمين العام لحركة الجهاد الإسلامي الأستاذ زياد النخالة". Palestine Today (in Arabic). 27 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  11. "Ziyad al-Nakhalah". ECFR. April 16, 2018.
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