Jihadist Groups in Gaza: The Nasir Salah al-Din Brigades

Their Stance and their Role in the Current Fighting

Since the 7 October attacks and Israel’s launching of its military campaign in Gaza, one of the questions has been what role, if any, jihadist groups have played in the fighting. By jihadist groups, I am not referring to Hamas, but rather those that have the general worldview described in my April article that gives a definition of jihadism. Currently, in the Gaza context, this refers to three main groups: Jaysh al-Ummah (supportive of al-Qa‘ida), Jaysh al-Islam (pro-Islamic State) and the Nasir Salah al-Din Brigades (also called, until now, Liwa al-Tawhid).

Of these groups, the Nasir Salah al-Din Brigades is the most obscure publicly about where it stands on the jihadist spectrum of al-Qa‘ida and Islamic State.