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Palestine Liberation Army

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Palestine Liberation Army
جيش التحرير الفلسطيني
Jaysh at-Tahrir al-Filastini
LeaderBrig. Gen. Akram Muhammad al-Salti[1]
Dates of operation1964–present
Active regionsSyria
Historically: Gaza Strip, Jordan, Iraq
IdeologyPalestinian nationalism[2]
Anti-Zionism[3]
Size6,000 (2017)[4]
Allies As-Sa'iqa
PFLP-GC
Fatah al-Intifada
Syria Syrian Army
 Hezbollah
Opponents Israel Defense Forces (1967, 1982)
 Jordan (1970–71)
 PLO (1976)
Syrian opposition Free Syrian Army
Ahrar al-Sham
Jaysh al-Islam
Al-Nusra Front[5]
ISIS
Battles and wars

The Palestine Liberation Army (PLA; Arabic: جيش التحرير الفلسطيني, romanized: Jaysh at-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnī) is ostensibly the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), set up at the 1964 Arab League summit held in Alexandria, Egypt, with the mission of fighting Israel. However, it has never been under effective PLO control, but rather it has been controlled by its various host governments, usually Syria. Even though it initially operated in several countries, the present-day PLA is only active in Syria and recruits male Palestinian refugees.[3]

History

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Foundation and early operations

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Immediately after its creation at the 1964 Arab League summit in Alexandria, the PLO (then headed by Ahmad Shukeiri) was effectively under the control of the Arab states, especially Nasser's Egypt. The Palestinians would not gain independent control of the organization until Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction wrested it from Nasser-backed Palestinians in 1968–69.

Accordingly, the PLA was officially set up in 1964 as the PLO's armed wing[7] despite lacking an actual operation link to the PLO. In reality, the PLA was created by Nasser as an "auxiliary formation".[15] It was staffed by Palestinian refugees under the control of the host countries, who would perform their military service in these units instead of in their host countries' regular armed forces. Formally, the PLA fell under the command of the PLO's Military Department, but in practice, none of the governments involved relinquished control of the brigades. From an early point, the PLA became especially influenced by Syria.[7]

The PLA was originally organized into three brigades, named after historic battles:[15]

The PLA was relatively well equipped and trained, and even fielded armour.[15] Its materiel mostly originated in the Soviet Union.[6] However, the three PLA brigades remained under-strength until the 1980s.[15] The PLA was never deployed in the form of a single fighting unit for the PLO, but instead elements were utilized as an auxiliary and support force by its controller governments.[15][7] PLA brigades fought in the Six-Day War of 1967 as part of the Egyptian and Syrian militaries.[6] In 1968, the Popular Liberation Forces (Arabic: quwwat at-tahrir ash-sha'biyya), better known as the "Yarmouk Brigade", were established within the framework of the PLA to perform commando actions against Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, occupied by Israeli forces the year before. Generally the PLA refrained from this kind of underground action, having been built up as something of a conventional military parade showpiece.

Black September, Yom Kippur War, and Lebanese Civil War

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After its foundation, the PLA came to be used as political cover by its host governments, especially Syria. In course of the Black September of 1970, hastily repainted Syrian Army tanks under the command of the PLA were sent into Jordan to aid the Palestinian guerrillas against the Jordanian Armed Forces,[7] probably with the ultimate aim to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy.[16] Although the initial invasion was successful, with PLA forces capturing Irbid and declaring it a "liberated" city,[16] the Jordanian military eventually managed to stall the attack in course of heavy fighting.[17] After international pressure, and threats of intervention from both Israel and the United States, the combined PLA-Syrian forces were forced to turn back; an embarrassment which would contribute greatly to the overthrow of the government of Salah Jadid by Hafez al-Assad. The failure of the invasion has also attributed to the fact that the Syrian Air Force under al-Assad had refused to enter the fighting in the first place.[18]

PLA units saw action during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, fighting both at the Syrian and Egyptian fronts.[6] From 1973, the PLA effectively became part of the Syrian Army.[15]

During the Lebanese Civil War, Syria likewise made extensive use of the PLA as a proxy force, including against the PLO (the PLA however proved unreliable when ordered to fight other Palestinians, and suffered from mass defections).[8] In this conflict, it acted alongside the as-Sa'iqa faction of the PLO to support Syrian interests.[19] Already deployed from 1975 in Lebanon, the PLA acted as cover for the Syrian Armed Forces during the start of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 1976, as invading Syrian soldiers were dressed in PLA uniforms.[7] The PLA and as-Sa'iqa offered protection during the 1976 Lebanese presidential election, helping Élias Sarkis in getting elected as President of Lebanon.[19] Overall, the PLA proved to be relatively ineffective in Lebanon.[8] The PLA was largely destroyed as a fighting force during the 1982 Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon that started the 1982 Lebanon War. Its fighters in Lebanon left for Tunis when the PLO evacuated Beirut that year, in a US-sponsored cease fire agreement. The Egyptian PLA was also deployed in Lebanon in 1976, after Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat had approached the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, to mend relations damaged by Sadat's peacemaking attempts with Israel. Still, the Egyptian units never proved as important as the fully deployed Syrian PLA. In 1991, the first commander-in-chief of the PLA Maj. Gen. Wajih Al Madani died.

Many PLA soldiers in Egypt and Jordan later became the core of the Palestinian Authority's (PNA) National Guard, after the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords, when they were allowed to enter the Palestinian Territories to take up positions in the PNA security services.[20]

Syrian Civil War

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The Syrian PLA remains active, closely coordinated with as-Sa'iqa, although the importance of both had diminished over the years. The PLA has been rebuilt and Palestinians in Syria are still drafted to perform their military service in its ranks. Though completely staffed by Palestinians, it remains outside of the PLO's control, and is in effect integrated into the Syrian Army. Nevertheless, it poses as an independent entity, and occasionally organizes pro-government rallies celebrating Syrian commitment to the Palestinian cause.[21]

With the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the PLA sided with the government and began to fight against the Syrian opposition.[21][22] Led by Major General Muhammad Tariq al-Khadra,[2][3] the PLA has taken part in campaigns in the Rif Dimashq, Daraa, and Quneitra Governorates. In early 2015, a number of PLA fighters led by Major Khaldoun Al Nader were allegedly executed for refusing to fight against rebels in Daraa.[23][24]

Around 228 PLA fighters have been killed in action by September 2017;[4] one of the highest ranking fatalities being a brigadier general Anwar al-Saqa.[21]

On 5 August 2020, commander of the PLA Maj. Gen. Muhammad Tariq al-Khadra[2] died in Damascus due to COVID-19.[25]

See also

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Similar Organizations:

References

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  1. ^ Brigadier General Akram Muhammad al-Salti (left) has been appointed as Chief of Staff of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) in Syria.
  2. ^ a b c "Hamas slams killing of Palestinian troops in Syria". Al Akhbar. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (1 September 2015). "Overview of some pro-Assad Militias". Syria Comment. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Palestine Liberation Army (PLO) suffered heavy losses during fighting with Syrian regime". Nedaa. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Racha Abi Haidar (12 February 2014). "The Deal in Yarmouk: End of the Tragedy or Empty Words?". Al Akhbar. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e Laffin 2005, p. 38.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pipes 1992, p. 133.
  8. ^ a b c Pipes 1992, p. 121.
  9. ^ Leith Fadel (6 April 2015). "Complete Report from the Yarmouk Camp; Palestinian Resistance on the Offensive". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  10. ^ Fadel, Leith (21 June 2016). "Syrian Army, Hezbollah capture Al-Bahariyah village in East Ghouta: map". al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  11. ^ Leith Fadel (3 April 2017). "Syrian Army advances inside strategic town east of Damascus". Al Masdar News. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. ^ Leith Aboufadel (9 March 2018). "Virtual map of East Ghouta battle: September 2015-Present". al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Islamist rebels issue distress call for help as Syrian Army advances in Sheikh Miskeen". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  14. ^ "PLA Fighter Pronounced Dead in Daraa Hostilities". Action Group for Palestinians of Syria. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Laffin 2005, p. 29.
  16. ^ a b Shlaim 2008, p. 326.
  17. ^ Shlaim 2008, pp. 326, 333.
  18. ^ Migdal, Joel (2014). "4. Finding a Place in the Middle East: A New Partnership Develops out of Black September". Shifting Sands: The United States in the Middle East. Columbia University Press (published February 2014). ISBN 9780231166720. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  19. ^ a b Pipes 1992, pp. 122, 133.
  20. ^ John Pike. "Palestine Liberation Army (PLA)". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  21. ^ a b c Rod Nordland; Dalal Mawad (30 June 2012). "Palestinians in Syria Are Reluctantly Drawn Into Vortex of Uprising". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  22. ^ "Hamas slams killing of Palestinian troops in Syria". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  23. ^ "After news of the liquidation of Palestinian officers who refused to fight alongside the regime .. Ambiguity envelops the fate of a pilot in the Liberation Army". Zaman al-Wasl. 2 March 2015.
  24. ^ "A PLA Recruit Dies in Damascus Suburb and News about the Execution of Others". Action Group for Palestinians in Syria. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Body of late Major General Tarek al-Khadra escorted to his final resting place". Syrian Arab News Agency. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2023.

Works cited

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Further reading

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  • Yezid Sayigh, 'Escalation or Containment? Egypt and the Palestine Liberation Army, 1964–67,' International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 30, Issue 1, 1998, pp97–116.
  • Hillel Frisch, The Palestinian Military: Between Militias and Armies (Middle Eastern Military Studies) – 30 March 2008
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