# Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Palestinian nationalism Factions and leaders :
Yassin + Haniyeh RantisiMashalSinwarDeifDeifMabhouhHabashAbbasHawatmehNakhalah :
Map: Birthplaces or family origins Details below: p. parents from, b. born in, d. death. :
Palestine Liberation Organization
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Mahmoud Abbas
Also: President of the PNA
PLO political factions
Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)
Palestinian People's Party (PPP)
Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF)
Arab Liberation Front (ALF)
Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA)
Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF)
Palestinian Arab Front (PAF)
As-Sa'iqa
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Palestinian National Initiative
Leader Mustafa Barghouti :
Fatah
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Yasser Arafat
p. Gaza City b. Cairo d. 2004 in Paris
Khaled Yashruti
Salah Khalaf
Khalil al-Wazir
Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas
b. Safed
(President of the PA)
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Jibril Rajoub
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Mahmoud Aloul :
Fatah splinter groups
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Marwan Barghouti
Prisoner of Israel
see also: Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
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Raed Al-Karmi
Founder of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
Naif Abu-Sharah
Local commander in Nablus
Fadi Kafisha
Former head of the Tanzim in Nablus
Sirhan Sirhan
Zakaria Zubeidi
Local commander in Jenin
see also Tali Fahima
Samih Madhoun
d. killed by EQB
Ibrahim al-Nabulsi
see also: Lions' Den :
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Secretary General
George Habash
b. Lydda
Abu Ali Mustafa
Birth name: "Mustafa Ali Zabri"
b. 1938 Arraba, Jenin Jenin
See also: 17 October 2001
Ahmad Sa'adat
Prisoners of Israel since 2006
see also: Israel–Hamas war hostage crisis
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Jamil Mezher
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Ghassan Kanafani
Schisms and splinter groups
PFLP-GC :
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Split from the PFLP in 1969.
Founder and current leader
Nayef Hawatmeh
b. 1938 As-Salt
Militant wing National Resistance Brigades
Spokesperson: Abu Khaled :
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
Ziyad al-Nakhalah
b. Khan Yunis
Militant wing Saraya Al Quds :
Hamas
List of leaders
Chairman of Hamas Shura Council (1987‑2004)
Ahmed Yassin
b. Al-Jura, d. 2004
Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi
b. Yibna, d. 2004
Chairman of Hamas Polit Bureau
Ismail Haniyeh
p. Al-Jura, b. Al-Shati, d. 2024
Khaled Mashal
b. Silwad
Leader in the Gaza Strip
Yahya Sinwar
p. Al‑Majal, b. Khan Yunis, d 2024
Head of International relations
Basem Naim
b. Beit Hanoun
Police and Disaster Management
Faiq Al-Mabhouh
p. Bayt Tima, d. 2024
Minister for Women's Affairs
Jamila al-Shanti
b. Jabalia, d. 2023, m. Widow of Rantisi
Militant wingEzzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades
Leader Mohammed Deif
Birth name: Mohammed Al-Masri
p. Kawkaba (near Kokhav Michael) and Al‑Qubayba, b. Khan Yunis
d. Failed attempt in 2014
d. Unconfirmed: 2024)
Related topics
Hamas government in the Gaza Strip
Hamas in Lebanon
All-Palestine Government in Gaza
Ashkelon incorporation into Israel :
Historical figures
Ezzedeen Al-Qassam
Namesake of the Qassam Brigades
Musa Alami
early Palestinian nationalist
b. 1897 in Jerusalem
Yaqub al-Ghusayn
b. 1899 in Ramla
George Antonius
b. 1891 Deir al-Qamar
al-Husayni family
Jamal al-Husayni
Musa al-Husayni :
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Ideologies
Palestinian nationalism
Islamism in the Gaza Strip
Islamic nationalism § Hamas
Present day
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Palestinian political violence
Hamas government in the Gaza Strip
Palestinian Legislative Council
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1948 to 1967
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Jordanian annexation of the West Bank
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Mandatory Palestine
Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine
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Origin of the Palestinians :
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Ziyad al-Nakhalah (sometimes Ziad Nakhale; Arabic: زياد النخالة; born 6 April 1953) is a Palestinian politician who is the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Nakhalah was born in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip in 1953. His father was killed by the Israeli army during the 1956 Khan Yunis massacre. Nakhalah trained as a teacher in Gaza City. In 1971, al-Nakhalah was sentenced to life imprisonment in Israel because of his militant activities with the Arab Liberation Front, and was later released in a prisoner swap in 1985.
After his release from Israeli prison, he was tasked with establishing the PIJ's military wing in the Gaza Strip, the Al-Quds Brigades. Al-Nakhalah was detained again by Israel in April 1988 for his role in the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation, and was exiled to Lebanon in August 1988 with other PIJ leaders. Nakhalah became deputy secretary general of PIJ in 1995, and was later elected secretary general of PIJ in 2018.
On 23 January 2014, Nakhalah was designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the United States, resulting in his property and interests in the United States being frozen. Since 28 September 2018, the PIJ has been declared a terrorist organization by several countries.

## Biography

Ziyad al-Nakhalah was born on 6 April 1953 in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, then under Egyptian occupation. His father was killed by the Israeli army in 1956 during the Khan Yunis massacre. Al-Nakhalah trained as a teacher in Gaza City.
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. Al-Nakhalah was detained again by Israel in April 1988 for his role in the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation, 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, Nakhalah was designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the United States, resulting in his property and interests in the United States being frozen. The US also offered a $5-million reward for information leading to his capture.
Nakhalah was elected secretary general of PIJ on 28 September 2018, succeeding Ramadan Shalah, who suffered a series of strokes in April 2018.
During September 2023, al-Nakhalah met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas senior leader Saleh al-Arouri, and PFLP deputy secretary-general Jamil Mezher in Lebanon. Israeli media framed the meetings as indicative of an upcoming escalation in the Gaza Strip or West Bank.