Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)

A Palestinian terrorist organization with a jihadist, fundamentalist, nationalist, and anti-Zionist ideology. The military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, called Al-Quds Brigades, is the second most powerful in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The organization focuses on military activity and, unlike Hamas, does not represent a popular movement. It was founded in the early 1980s and was the first organization to offer a religious-ideological alternative to the struggle against Israel, in contrast to the secular-oriented PLO. The organization is supported and directed by Iran.