The al-Quds Brigades (in Arabic, Saraya al-Quds) is the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).[1] Especially active in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the al-Quds Brigades are reportedly receiving orders from the PIJ leadership in Damascus, Syria.
The al-Quds Brigades were very active in the West Bank, especially in the town of Jenin, but extensive operations against its infrastructures carried out by the IDF resulted in severe losses to the group, and it appeared significantly weakened by 2004 in that region.
In the Gaza Strip, the al-Quds Brigades continued to fight for their cause, which is to return Palestinians to what the brigades consider their rightful homeland.
On March 1, 2006 Abu al-Walid al-Dahdouh, a commander of the group's military wing, was targeted and killed by a bomb or missile as he drove past the Palestinian finance ministry.
On August 30, 2006 the leader of the al-Quds Brigades, Hussam Jaradat, was killed by Israel. He was shot in the Jenin refugee camp by the IDF.