Why it matters:
The statement underscores Islamic Jihad’s continued centrality in the Palestinian armed resistance and signals an uncompromising stance at a time of intense conflict in Gaza and heightened tensions across the occupied territories.
The big picture:
Islamic Jihad frames Shaqaqi as a foundational thinker whose ideas, the movement says, justify and sustain its strategy of armed struggle. The message is meant both to honor a historical figure and to rally supporters around current military and political objectives.
What the movement is saying:
The statement wrote, "With his thought, positions, and jihadist career, Dr. Shaqaqi represented a milestone in the struggle of our people and their fight against the Zionist project on our land, Palestine."
"On this occasion, we reaffirm the fundamental principles launched by the late Dr. Shaqaqi and his brothers: Palestine must be the central issue for the Arab and Islamic peoples, and jihad and resistance are the path to confronting the danger of this project against our Arab and Islamic nation, and faith, awareness, revolution, and national and Islamic unity are the necessary tools to achieve this."
"The thinking of Dr. Shaqaqi, may God have mercy upon him, and his brothers bore fruit in the heroic steadfastness of the Al-Quds Brigades in confronting the enemy on numerous occasions, most notably their steadfastness in the field of confrontation with the entity in the valiant land of Gaza, over a period of two full years, side by side with the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and all Palestinian resistance forces.
"The path of Islamic Jihad in Palestine has proven that the assassination of its first Secretary-General has increased its steadfastness and certainty in the approach for which the movement was founded, without compromise, evasion, or appeasement," it added.
"We adhere to the principles and constants for which Shaqaqi lived and was martyred, and that armed jihad is the only option in confronting the Nazi Zionist criminality. It will continue until the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea."
State of play:
Islamic Jihad remains a principal armed faction within the Palestinian resistance landscape alongside groups such as Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The statement is a reaffirmation of continuity rather than a policy shift.
Between the lines:
The statement serves dual purposes: commemorating a founder and using the anniversary as a mobilizing instrument to consolidate internal legitimacy and public support.
Go deeper:
Fat'hi al-Shaqaqi was a founder of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was killed in 1995. Islamic Jihad’s ideology centers on armed struggle and rejects political compromise; the movement has maintained close operational ties with other resistance groups at times, while remaining organizationally distinct.
Zohre Khazaee - A.Akbari
