Marking its 36th anniversary, Palestinian Islamic Jihad holds military manoeuvre in Gaza 

On Tuesday, 3 October, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement held a military manoeuvre and parade in the besieged coastal enclave, the Gaza Strip, to mark the 36th anniversary of the organisation's founding. 

Dubbed "Martyrs are tidings of victory," the military manoeuvre included launching heavy long-term missiles toward the Gaza Sea, simulating face-to-face fighting between the Palestinian militants and Israeli army forces on the ground. 

"The manoeuvre showcases an offensive military operation against our Israeli enemy to simulate raids on several Zionist military sites and fortifications with a high fire intensity," the PIJ said in a press statement sent to The New Arab. 

"Such manoeuvre is carrying important implications regarding the military tactics of the Al-Quds Brigades, the movement's armed wing, as several Zionist military sites will be raided - hypothetically," it added.

A military march will be held in Gaza as some thousands of the PIJ fighters will participate in the military parade to show their weapons and missiles, according to a security source of the movement. 

"The majestic march reflects the development of the Al-Quds Brigades in terms of numbers, experience, capabilities, and adherence to resistance ideology," Abu Hamza, a senior militant at the PIJ, told TNA. 

"Al-Quds Brigades will reveal for the first time new and advanced missiles with wide ranges that entered service after the Battle of Revenge of the Freedmen months ago, which reflects the continued state of preparation and equipment of the Al-Quds Brigades," he added. 

"The military parade coincides with the Israeli settlers' storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, and the resistance's response is on the table permanently," he pointed out. 

"The PIJ and all Palestinian resistance factions will continue in the occupied West Bank, and it will not be allowed to be written off or left alone to face aggression. This affirms the principle of unity of the battlefields as an irreversible strategy in confronting the enemy entity," Abu Hamza stressed. 

Moreover, the PIJ is scheduled to hold a mass festival on Friday to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation. 

The PIJ is the second most powerful group of the Palestinian armed factions in the occupied territories and operates mainly in the coastal enclave.  

Besides Hamas and other armed factions, the PIJ was involved in five large-scale military wars with Israel and tens of limited conflicts. 

However, it has only been involved in three military conflicts with the Israeli army since 2019, as Israel assassinated a number of its prominent general leaders of the al-Quds Brigades.