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.
| Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis | |
|---|---|
| أكناف بيت المقدس | |
 | |
| Leaders | |
| Dates of operation | c. 2012/13 – 2015 (main group) 2015 – present (remnant faction) |
| Allegiance |  Hamas (denied by Hamas)[5] |
| Headquarters | Yarmouk Camp, Damascus |
| Active regions | Southern Syria |
| Ideology | Sunni Islamism |
| Size | 200 (2015)[6] |
| Allies |  Jaysh al-Islam Jaysh al-Ababil Free Syrian Army 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
|
| Battles and wars | Syrian Civil War |
| Website | aknafpal.com[1] |
History
editFollowing 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 group 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 in southern Syria. Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis' faction in Daraa 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 group (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 group 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 group 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 agree 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
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Homepage of Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis". Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ "Syrian War Daily – 8th of December 2017". 8 December 2017.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ ""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.
- ^ "Palestinians flee refugee camp in Damascus as ISIS takes over".
- ^ "سوريا :جبريل: تنظيم جبهة "النصرة" الإرهابي تآمر على أكناف بيت المقدس بعد أن اعتبرها حليفة له".
- ^ "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.
- ^ ""How did Hamas's military expertise end up with Syria's rebels?"". Middle East Eye. 23 May 2015.
- ^ "The South Damascus Campaign: Interview with Quwat al-Sa'iqa". 27 April 2018.
- ^ "استهداف معاقل النظام في درعا المحطة". YouTube. 13 January 2014.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "كتائب أكناف بيت المقدس وعملياتها في معركة وبشر الصابرين بالقنيطرة وحدة الاعلام المقاوم 5-10-2015". YouTube. 5 October 2015.
- ^ a b Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (27 April 2018). "The South Damascus Campaign: Interview with Quwat al-Sa'iqa". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ Lister (2015), p. 345.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Palestinian Fighters Retake Parts of Refugee Camp Seized by ISIS". Newsweek. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ^ Mamoon Alabbasi (22 May 2015). "How did Hamas's military expertise end up with Syria's rebels?". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Bill Roggio (29 September 2013). "Al Nusrah Front, Free Syrian Army seize border crossing to Jordan". Long War Journal. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b Nour Samaha (4 May 2015). "The Defenders of Yarmouk". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Syrian rebel groups 'agree to Damascus truce' in Cairo". The New Arab. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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
edit- Lister, Charles R. (2015). The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-019046247-5.