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Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis
أكناف بيت المقدس
Leaders
  • Abu Ahmed Mushir [2]
  • Abo Hamam [3]
  • Ahmad Zaghmout [4]
Dates of operation c. 2012/13 – 2015 (main group)
2015 – present (remnant faction)
Allegiance Hamas (denied by Hamas) [5]
Headquarters Yarmouk Camp, Damascus
Active regionsSouthern Syria
Ideology Sunni Islamism
Islamic fundamentalism
Size200 (2015) [6]
Allies Jaysh al-Islam
Jaysh al-Ababil
Liwa Sham al-Rasul
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (2018)
Al-Nusra Front (formally) [7]
Al-Rahman Legion [8]
Ahrar al-Sham (2015) [9]
Opponents  Syria
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Al-Nusra Front (2015)
Arab Nationalist Guard
Hezbollah
  • Return Forces (Palestinian Hezbollah affiliate) [10]

Palestinian Syrian militias

Battles and wars Syrian Civil War

Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis ( Arabic: أكناف بيت المقدس, romanized: ʾAknāf Bayt al-Maqdis, lit. "Region of the Holy House") was a Syrian Palestinian rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War.

History

Following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, several Palestinian and Syrian members of Hamas joined the rebellion against the Syrian government, and formed Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis. [14] The militia was only loosely affiliated to the Syrian opposition, [15] however, and its true allegiance remained with Hamas. [16] [17] Hamas, however, officially denied any links with Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis. [18] The group was primarily active in the Yarmouk Camp of Damascus, which it defended alongside other insurgents from government attacks from 2013. [4] It also had branches in Quneitra [19] and the Daraa Governorate. The Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis' Daraa group took part in a rebel offensive in September 2013 which aimed at capturing the Daraa border crossing. [20]

Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis battled the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, backed by al-Nusra Front, in April 2015 and lost 90% of its territory in Yarmouk Camp. [16] [17] [21] As result, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis disintegrated, as the group was officially absorbed into the Syrian government forces, while many of its members defected to the Al-Nusra Front and ISIL. [22] In order to save the remainder of the militia (by then reduced to 160 fighters), Hamas leader Khaled Mashal reportedly contacted leading members of the PFLP-GC, Hezbollah, and the Amal Movement to guarantee the safety of Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis' members. The group's Yarmouk branch consequently joined the Syrian government forces, [23] and one of its commanders declared the entire militia dissolved. [4] Local pro-government troops continued to regard the reconciled ex-Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis fighters with suspicion. [23] In early 2015, amidst its political disintegration, the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon accused the group of being implicated in rape and other forms of conflict-related sexual violence. [24]

Despite the events of April 2015, a faction of the militia remained active in Yarmouk Camp and allied with the Syrian rebels. This faction rejected offers of reconciliation by the government in January 2017, [25] though it, along with Jaysh al-Islam and Jaysh al-Ababil, signed a ceasefire agreement with government forces in October 2017. [26]

After most rebel factions in southern Damascus, including Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, initially rejected offers to be transported to insurgent-held areas in northern Syria, [27] the government launched an offensive from April 2018, aiming to retake all of southern Damascus. Amid this offensive, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis clashed with the more numerous Palestinian pro-government militias in Yarmouk Camp. [14] Hard-pressed and without hopes of victory, the insurgents yielded in May, and agreed to surrender and be relocate to northern Syria. The pro-rebel Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis militants and their families were among the first group of surrendered insurgents to be transported to the north. [28]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Homepage of Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis". Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Syrian War Daily – 8th of December 2017". 8 December 2017.
  3. ^ "Video- The War On Terror Continues- SAA ground-to-ground missile against ISIS Terrorists In Yarmouk Camp- Idlib, Hama, Qalamoun Mountains". Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "'ISIS and Nusra are one' in Yarmouk Camp". Middle Meast Monitor. 19 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. ^ ""حماس" تنفي علاقتها بكتائب "أكناف بيت المقدس" في سورية" ["Hamas" denies a relationship with the "Aknaf Bayt Al-Maqdis" Brigades in Syria | Syrian Net]. www.alsouria.net. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Palestinians flee refugee camp in Damascus as ISIS takes over".
  7. ^ "سوريا‬ :جبريل: تنظيم جبهة "النصرة" الإرهابي تآمر على أكناف بيت المقدس بعد أن اعتبرها حليفة له".
  8. ^ "حماس والنظام السوري.. علاقة مضطربة ومواقف متضاربة" [Hamas and the Syrian regime..a turbulent relationship and conflicting positions]. Enab Baladi (in Arabic). 14 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  9. ^ ""How did Hamas's military expertise end up with Syria's rebels?"". Middle East Eye. 23 May 2015.
  10. ^ "The South Damascus Campaign: Interview with Quwat al-Sa'iqa". 27 April 2018.
  11. ^ "استهداف معاقل النظام في درعا المحطة". YouTube.
  12. ^ "Jihadists of ISIS and Qaeda attack Syrian rebels in Damascus". ARA News. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  13. ^ "كتائب أكناف بيت المقدس وعملياتها في معركة وبشر الصابرين بالقنيطرة وحدة الاعلام المقاوم 5-10-2015". YouTube.
  14. ^ a b Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (27 April 2018). "The South Damascus Campaign: Interview with Quwat al-Sa'iqa". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  15. ^ Lister (2015), p. 345.
  16. ^ a b Caleb Weiss (5 April 2015). "Islamic State releases photos from Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus". Long War Journal. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Palestinian Fighters Retake Parts of Refugee Camp Seized by ISIS". Newsweek. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  18. ^ Mamoon Alabbasi (22 May 2015). "How did Hamas's military expertise end up with Syria's rebels?". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Syrian government forces arrest Free Syrian Army fighter from Quneitra". Smart News. 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  20. ^ Bill Roggio (29 September 2013). "Al Nusrah Front, Free Syrian Army seize border crossing to Jordan". Long War Journal. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Jabhat al-Nusra and IS take control on 90% of the Yarmouk camp". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  22. ^ "Syria & Iraq Country Report: Children & Security" (PDF). Dallaire Institute. 31 January 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  23. ^ a b Nour Samaha (4 May 2015). "The Defenders of Yarmouk". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence". undocs.org. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Displaced people from Yarmouk camp suffer in Southern Damascus towns". Smart News. 12 September 2017. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Syrian rebel groups 'agree to Damascus truce' in Cairo". The New Arab. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  27. ^ "Dignitaries and opposition factions in Southern Damascus refuse preliminary agreement with Russia". Smart News. 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Civilians and fighters from three towns in southern Damascus begin displacement process to Northern Syria". Smart News. 3 May 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.

Works cited

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