Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Overview

Ziyad al-Nakhalah is the secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, an Iranian regime-backed terrorist organization that attacks Israel. He succeeded Ramadan Abdallah Shalah on September 28, 2018, after Shalah fell into a coma earlier that year. Al-Nakhalah had served as deputy secretary-general since 1995 and helped establish the Al-Quds Brigades, the organization’s armed wing. The United States designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2014.

His leadership has combined calls for armed attacks with efforts to strengthen Islamic Jihad’s ties to the Iranian regime, Hezbollah and Hamas. He maintained close relations with Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian regime’s Quds Force, and later credited Iranian help with the formation of Islamic Jihad armed battalions in Judea and Samaria.

Early life

Al-Nakhalah was born in Gaza on April 6, 1953, and grew up in Khan Yunis. He obtained a teaching certificate. Israel imprisoned him in 1971 for involvement in terrorism; he was released after fourteen years in a prisoner exchange. He subsequently joined Islamic Jihad’s first leadership council. Fathi Shqaqi, the organization’s founder, assigned him the task of establishing its armed wing. Israel detained him again in 1988 and exiled him to Lebanon. He later moved between Lebanon and Syria and spent many years among Islamic Jihad’s senior figures based in Damascus.

Career

After Shqaqi’s death in 1995, al-Nakhalah became deputy secretary-general under Ramadan Abdallah Shalah. He held the post until 2018, while taking part in the organization’s military leadership and representing it in Lebanon. He was living in Lebanon when Islamic Jihad elected him secretary-general on September 28, 2018. The organization reelected him for a second term in February 2023.

Al-Nakhalah played a central role in deepening Islamic Jihad’s collaboration with Iran. He led a senior delegation to Tehran in late 2018. Its meetings included Iranian regime foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and, on December 31, supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Zarif presented support for Islamic Jihad’s cause as a fundamental principle of the regime’s foreign policy. Al-Nakhalah had also maintained close working ties with Soleimani, whose Quds Force supplied support to armed organizations confronting Israel.

He attended Iranian regime president Ebrahim Raisi’s inauguration, sitting in the front row with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem. He continued meeting Iranian leaders during Raisi’s presidency. At an April 2 discussion following several such meetings, al-Nakhalah and Haniyeh affirmed political and military coordination between their organizations.

Ideology and statements

Al-Nakhalah advocates armed action against Israel and rejects its continued existence. On November 10, 2018, Islamic Jihad played his recorded speech at an anniversary rally in al-Bireh, Judea and Samaria. He urged Arabs in Judea and Samaria to lead an armed campaign against Israel, citing the Second Intifada of 2000 as a model. He also renewed the organization’s commitment to its leaders and dead fighters from the area.

During his late-2018 visit to Iran, al-Nakhalah threatened rocket fire against Tel Aviv and every other Israeli city in a future confrontation. He described coordinated attacks from the north, south and center, and threatened Israeli military posts and civilian sites from underground and aboveground positions. He later urged strengthening the Iran-linked alliance he called the Jerusalem axis. During Joe Biden’s regional visit, he again called for continued armed action against Israel. These statements described an intended campaign across several fronts, extending beyond fighting in Gaza.

Role in attacks or conflicts

As secretary-general, al-Nakhalah led Islamic Jihad during repeated fighting with Israel in Gaza. After one round of fighting, he announced acceptance of an Egyptian ceasefire proposal and threatened to respond with force if Israel violated the terms he described. During another confrontation, he called for continued attacks as Islamic Jihad fired rockets from Gaza toward Israeli communities. His public threats of rocket attacks on cities made civilian areas an explicit part of his proposed campaign.

In a July 1 interview reported in 2023, al-Nakhalah credited Iranian regime help with Islamic Jihad’s formation of armed battalions across cities in Judea and Samaria. In September 2023, while based in Beirut, he met Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri, shortly before the October 7 massacre. The meeting was part of the continuing contact among leaders of the Iranian regime’s Axis of Resistance; it does not, by itself, establish al-Nakhalah’s role in planning the massacre. Al-Arouri met Nasrallah and al-Nakhalah again on October 25. In November, Iranian regime foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met al-Nakhalah amid the Gaza war.

Death or current status

Al-Nakhalah remained active in Islamic Jihad’s leadership in 2024. On July 29, Iranian regime president Masoud Pezeshkian met him in Tehran and pledged continued support for the organization’s cause. Al-Nakhalah attended Pezeshkian’s inauguration the next day alongside Haniyeh and Qassem. He and Haniyeh also met Khamenei on July 30.

Legacy

Al-Nakhalah’s tenure has entrenched Islamic Jihad’s place in the Iranian regime’s armed network. His long association with Soleimani, repeated meetings with Tehran’s leaders and coordination with Hamas and Hezbollah show how he fostered that relationship. His account of Iranian help for battalions in Judea and Samaria connected the alliance to Islamic Jihad’s expansion beyond Gaza, while his threats against Israeli cities set out the wider confrontation he sought.