View source for Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command

{{Short description|Syrian-based Palestinian nationalist organisation}}
{{Distinguish|Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
| native_name      = الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين – القيادة العامة
| native_name_lang = ar
| image            = PFLP-GC Flag.svg
| founding_leader  = [[Ahmed Jibril]] [[Death by natural causes|#]]
| leader_title     = General Secretary
| leader           = [[Talal Naji]]
| leader1_name     = Anwar Raja<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.moi.gov.sy/index.php?content=2&article=Njg0ODk=|title=الدكتور المقداد يبحث مع ناجي التطورات في الأراضي المحتلة في ظل تصعيد الكيان الصهيوني عدوانه على المنطقة|website=moi.gov.sy|access-date=24 October 2024}}</ref>
| leader1_title    = Secretary of the Political Bureau
| dates            = 1968–present
| split_from       = [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]]
| headquarters     = [[Damascus]], [[Syria]]
| ideology         = [[Anti-Zionism]]<br>[[Arab nationalism]]<br>[[Palestinian nationalism]]<ref name=leftist /><ref name="pflp-on-defense">[http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/pflp-on-defense-in-gaza.html "PFLP on Defense in Gaza Over Ties to Assad"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216065211/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/pflp-on-defense-in-gaza.html |date=16 February 2013 }}. [[Al-Monitor]], 27 December 2012.</ref><br>[[Secularism]]<ref name=leftist /><br>[[Socialism]]<ref name=leftist />
| position         = [[Left-wing politics|Left Wing]]<ref name=leftist>{{cite web |date=2005-10-31 |title=PFLP, DFLP, PFLP-GC, Palestinian leftists |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/pflp-dflp-pflp-gc-palestinian-leftists |website=cfr.org |location=US |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=2025-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bzour |first=Mai Al |date=2015 |title=The Palestinian leftist movement: between political reality and cultural heritage |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48600047 |journal=Contemporary Arab Affairs |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=339–350 |doi=10.1080/17550912.2015.1055896 |jstor=48600047 |issn=1755-0912|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
| size             = 500-1,000 <small>(2004)</small><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Cronin |first1=Audrey Kurth |last2=Aden |first2=Huda |last3=Frost |first3=Adam |last4=Jones |first4=Benjamin |date=February 2004 |title=CRS Report for Congress RL32223 |url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/foreign-terrorist-organizations |website=Congressional Research Service}}</ref><br />800 <small>(2019)</small><ref>{{Cite book |date=21 June 2022 |title=CIA World Factbook 2022–2023 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOFIEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT4710 |access-date=2022-09-19 |via=[[Google Books]] |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|isbn=9781510771192 }}</ref>
| partof           = '''National affiliation:'''<br>[[Palestine Liberation Organization]]<ref name=fasael>{{cite web|title=fasael - منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية|url=https://www.plo.ps/ar/Category/112/%D9%81%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%84|website=Palestine Liberation Organization|access-date=29 August 2024|language=ar}}</ref><br/>[[Alliance of Palestinian Forces]]<br>'''International affiliation:'''<br>[[Axis of Resistance]]
| war              = [[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon]]<br>[[South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)]]<br>[[Iran–Israel proxy conflict]]<br>[[Syrian civil war]]<br>[[Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon]]<br>[[Gaza war]]
| organizations    = [[Jihad Jibril Brigades]] (paramilitary wing)
| designated_as_terror_group_by = {{flag|United States}}<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url= https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm|title=Chapter 8 -- Foreign Terrorist Organizations|date= 2006|publisher= U.S. Department |access-date= 18 August 2024}}</ref><br>{{flag|United Kingdom}}<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324603/20140627-List_of_Proscribed_organisations_WEBSITE_final.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815183741/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324603/20140627-List_of_Proscribed_organisations_WEBSITE_final.pdf |archive-date=15 August 2014 }}</ref><br>{{flag|European Union}}<ref name="eu-list">{{CELEX|32024D0332|text=Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/332 of 16 January 2024 updating the list of persons, groups and entities covered by Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2023/1514}}</ref><br>{{flag|Canada}}<ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-eng.aspx|title=About the listing process|access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref><br>{{flag|Japan}}<ref name="Japan_ban">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2002/7/0705.html |title=MOFA: Implementation of the Measures including the Freezing of Assets against Terrorists and the Like |access-date=2013-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406134416/http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2002/7/0705.html |archive-date=2013-04-06 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
The '''Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command''' ({{langx|ar|الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين – القيادة العامة|al-Jabhah al-Shaʻbīyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn – al-Qiyādah al-ʻĀmmah}}) or '''PFLP-GC''' is a [[Palestinian nationalism|Palestinian nationalist]] militant organisation based in [[Syria]]. It is a member of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO).<ref name=fasael/>

It was founded in 1968 by [[Ahmed Jibril]] after splitting from the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) based on ideological and internal disputes.<ref>{{cite book|last = Yonah|first = Alexander |title = Palestinian secular terrorism : profiles of Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and the Democratic Front for the Liberatiom of Palestine|year = 2003|page=34|publisher=Ardsley, NY : Transnational Publishers}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s it was involved in the [[Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon]] and launched a number of attacks against [[Israel]]i soldiers and civilians; including the [[Avivim school bus massacre]] (1970), the bombing of [[Swissair Flight 330]] (1970), the [[Kiryat Shmona massacre]] (1974) and the [[Night of the Gliders]] (1987).

Since the late 1980s PFLP-GC had been largely inactive in military activities, but re-emerged during the [[Syrian Civil War]] (2011–present) fighting on the side of the Ba'athist [[Syrian Arab Republic]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/article/syria-israel-airstrike-lebanon-b03b1bb22a3a998a903938e7aad47296 | title=Palestinian militant group in Syria holds funeral for 5 killed in mysterious blast | website=[[Associated Press News]] | date=June 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE8BG16X20121217?irpc=932|title=Syrian rebels take over Palestinian camp in Damascus|newspaper=Reuters|date=17 December 2012|access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref>

The group has a paramilitary wing called the [[Jihad Jibril Brigades]].<ref>[http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510710 "PFLP-GC divided on Syria stance"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130413194039/http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=510710 |date=13 April 2013 }}. [[Ma'an News Agency]], 9 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2013.</ref> It has been designated a [[List of designated terrorist groups|terrorist organization]] by Canada,<ref name="auto2"/> United Kingdom,<ref name="auto"/> Japan,<ref name="Japan_ban"/> United States,<ref name="auto1"/> and European Union.<ref name="eu-list"/>

==Background==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}
Jibril joined with [[George Habash]] in 1967 as more or less an equal partner in the PFLP leadership. When he quickly tired of the group's lack of field initiative, he was therefore still able to leave while retaining a significant retainer of his previous supporters. One of his most hated enemies within the group, [[Naif Hawatmeh]], unintentionally provided him with the pretext: While Jibril wrestled with Habash over why the Popular Front was so dependent on theoretical discussion rather than armed struggle, Hawatmeh tried to influence the PFLP in the direction of an ideology as leftist as possible.

Jibril decided that Hawatmeh's theorizing was chafing the PFLP and producing an organization of impotent intellectuals, and declared as such when he formed the General Command. Habash, he stated, had become a puppet to the professors of the exile, the elite among the refugees who were well-educated and wealthy, yet preached class revolution to the masses in the camps.

In July 2021, [[Talal Naji]] succeeded Jibril as the secretary-general of the PFLP-GC.<ref>{{cite web|title=Talal Naji Appointed as Secretary-General of PFLP-GC|website=Action Group for Palestinians of Syria |date=21 July 2021 |url=https://actionpal.org.uk/en/post/12062/news-and-reports/talal-naji-appointed-as-secretary-general-of-pflp-gc| access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>

==History==

=== Formation ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}
The PFLP-GC was founded in 1968 as a Syrian-backed splinter group from the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP). It was headed by Secretary-General [[Ahmed Jibril]], also known by the ''[[kunya (arabic)|kunya]]'' "Abu Jihad" (not to be confused with [[Khalil al-Wazir]], the head of Fatah's armed wing who used the same ''nom de guerre''), a former military officer in the [[Military of Syria|Syrian Army]] who had been one of the PFLP's early leaders. The PFLP-GC declared that its primary focus would be military, not political, complaining that the PFLP had been devoting too much time and resources to [[Marxism|Marxist]] philosophizing.

Although the group was initially a member of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO), it always opposed [[Yasser Arafat]] and opposes any political settlement with [[Israel]]; for this reason, it has never participated in the [[Oslo Accords|peace process]]. The PFLP-GC left the PLO in 1974 to join the [[Rejectionist Front]], protesting what they saw as the PLO's move towards an accommodation with Israel in the Arafat-backed [[Palestinian Liberation Organization#Ten Point Program|Ten Point Program]] of the [[Palestinian National Council]] (PNC). Unlike most of the organizations involved in the Rejectionist Front, the PFLP-GC never resumed its role within the PLO.

From the start, the PFLP-GC was more concentrated on means than ends. They never depended on a political platform; most of their recruits were young, exiled, poor, illiterate, and angry. The General Command promised a gun in every hand, and the means to write their own narrative rather than read and praise those of others as the better off exiles did in universities in Europe.

Jibril still used iron discipline to keep his fighters loyal and professional, and the General Command's insurgents were as a result for decades considered the best trained of any of the Palestinian guerrilla groups. What may have helped Jibril was Hawatmeh's own 1969 defection from the PFLP to form the [[Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PDFLP, later without the "Popular"), after Habash tried to compensate for some of the problems that had caused Jibril's exit.

===1970s and 1980s===
{{Main|Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon|1982-2000 South Lebanon conflict}}
{{Further|Night of the Gliders}}
In the 1970s and 1980s, the group carried out a number of attacks on Israeli soldiers and [[civilians]], and gained notoriety for using spectacular means.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} After 1969 Habash could no longer claim that he was the head of the true organization, as all three of the group's original triumvirate were now separate.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Nevertheless, due to the PFLP's spectacular successes, including the [[Dawson's Field hijackings]] (September 1970), [[Lod Airport Massacre]] (1971), and coordination with the [[Fatah]]-backed [[Black September (group)|Black September]] group in the [[Munich massacre|Munich Olympic killings]] ( 5–6 September 1972), Habash continued to be the first among equals among the Rejectionist Front, the groups that refused any permanent settlement in a framework other than military victory.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

From 1970 to 1973, the group targeted a number of aircraft; typically having members seduce single young women and promise them a life of adventure and love – often while getting them addicted to drugs – before asking them to carry some cash and a mysterious package onto a flight to Tel Aviv. While the girls assumed they were helping their "boyfriends" pass drugs, they were unknowingly carrying explosives.<ref name="katz"/>

On 21 February 1970, the group used its first [[barometric triggers]] to detonate two in-flight airliners nearly simultaneously: a [[Swissair]] flight to [[Tel Aviv]] that fell in [[Aargau]] [[Cantons of Switzerland|Canton]], killing 41, and an [[Austrian Airlines]] flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv, which actually failed to destroy the aircraft, which made an [[emergency landing]].<ref name="katz">{{cite book|last = Katz|first = Samuel M. |title = Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists|year = 2002}}</ref> The PFLP-GC was also responsible for the [[Avivim school bus massacre]] in 1970 and the [[Kiryat Shmona massacre]] in 1974.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}

Jibril focused on carving out a stake of the PLO recruitment in Lebanese refugee camps. While Fatah absorbed enormous casualties in the 1982 Lebanon War, the General Command succeeded in surviving, and at the end retained most of its previous manpower.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In one of its most famous attacks, a PFLP-GC guerrilla landed a motorized [[hang glider]] (apparently supplied by Libya)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sponsoring Terrorism: Syria and the PFLP-GC |url=http://www.meib.org/articles/0209_s1.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711152214/http://www.meib.org/articles/0209_s1.htm |archivedate=11 July 2007 |website=meib.org}}</ref> near an Israeli army camp near Kiryat Shemona in Northern Israel on 25 November 1987. He succeeded to kill six soldiers and wounded several others, before being shot dead himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news|title=News|website=The Scotsman}}</ref> The action has been seen by some as providing the catalyst for the eruption of the [[First Intifada]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.trend.infopartisan.net/trd1200/t051200.html|title=Die linke Opposition in der PLO und in den besetzten Gebiete|website=www.trend.infopartisan.net}}</ref> On 2 January 1988, nighttime Israeli airstrikes on [[Ain al-Hilweh]] killed three members of PFLP-GC. It was reported that the air raid was in response to the hang glider attack. [[Progressive Socialist Party|PSP]] positions along the coast North of Sidon were also hit and three of their members killed. In total around twenty people were killed in the attack, including seven children and one woman. In the previous two years there had been about forty Israeli air strikes on Lebanon.<ref>[[Middle East International]] No 316, 9 January 1988, Publishers [[Christopher Mayhew|Lord Mayhew]], [[Dennis Walters|Dennis Walters MP]]; [[Jim Muir]] p.16</ref>

The PFLP-GC has not been involved in major attacks on Israeli targets since the early 1990s, but it reportedly cooperated with the [[Hezbollah]] [[guerrilla warfare|guerrillas]] in South Lebanon.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

Supporters of the Libyan convicted of the [[Lockerbie bombing]] have suggested the PFLP-GC was in fact responsible.<ref>The German Connection, Emerson & Duffy, New York Times Magazine, 11 March 1990</ref>

===1990s and 2000s ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}
Following the rise of Hamas in the 1987–1991 [[First Intifada]] among Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Jibril found an able ally in resisting the trend started by Fatah leader [[Yasser Arafat]] toward a negotiated settlement to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. By that time, the Rejectionist Front was composed primarily of leftist groups, among them the PFLP, DFLP, General Command, PLF, and numerous other small factions. However, the members of these PLO groups were limited in their ability to confront Fatah, which never lost its supremacy within the umbrella organization. The only group that waged uninterrupted attrition against Arafat was the [[Fatah Revolutionary Council]] led by maverick hardliner Sabri al-Banna (better known as [[Abu Nidal]]), who was viewed by other Palestinian organizations as not so much a guerrilla as a pure criminal with no higher goal than deposing the moderates at the head of the PLO.

Though many Palestinians still were opposed to compromising on the principle of defeating Israel by armed struggle, the existing groups could not channel their desires, as many of them were led by the elite among the exile population, who were detached from the reality of the refugee camps, be they in the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan. Many leaders of Palestinian groups lived in luxurious accommodations throughout the Eastern Bloc, Europe, or various Arab states, especially Syria, Iraq, and Libya. Jibril uniquely insisted on living in a specially designed security bunker in the Lebanon mountains, a hilly terrain that was more attuned to the image of a guerrilla leader than Arafat's mansions in Tunis.

With the emergence of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad throughout the 1980s, Jibril proved more able to cope than Habash and his other allies in the Rejectionist Front. This was enabled by a factor that had nothing to do with his abilities or beliefs: While Habash was a [[Greek Orthodox]] and Hawatmeh a [[Greek Catholic]] Christian, Jibril was a Muslim.

Throughout the 1980s the General Command actively cooperated with the nascent [[Hezbollah]] paramilitary group (made mostly of [[Shia Muslim]]s) dedicated to armed struggle against Israel, as well as with Syria and Iran, both of whom fund and arm Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In the mid-1990s, Jibril held conferences with these groups in Tehran and Damascus in order to achieve tighter coordination of activities, though his organization remained small and its own actions were more concerned with aiding Hezbollah and achieving an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The Israelis never forgot Jibril's spectacular exploits, especially the Night of the Hang Gliders, and used a variety of operations to try and kill him, none successfully, although his son and heir Jihad Ahmed Jibril was assassinated by a car bomb on 20 May 2002, with the identity of the assassins unknown. Due to these activities, the General Command is regarded as the most hard-line of the old insurgent groups, and currently resists the Oslo Accords from its bases in Syria and Lebanon.

===Syrian Civil War and the 2023 Gaza war ===
PFLP-GC leader Jibril was a staunch ally of Syrian President [[Bashar al-Assad]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Over 30 Killed in 24 Hours at Damascus Palestinian Camp |url=https://naharnet.com/stories/en/59505-over-30-killed-in-24-hours-at-damascus-palestinian-camp |access-date=15 December 2024 |work=Naharnet |date=2012-11-05}}</ref>
On 5 June 2011, a number of Yarmouk residents were [[2011 Israeli border demonstrations|shot dead while protesting at the Israeli border]]. Allegedly angered by the PFLP-GC's refusal to take part in the protests and seen as the [[Assad regime]]'s enforcer in the camp, thousands of mourners burnt down its headquarters in Yarmouk. PFLP-GC members fired on the crowd, killing 14 Palestinians and wounding 43.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Steele |first1=Jonathan |title=How Yarmouk refugee camp became the worst place in Syria |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/mar/05/how-yarmouk-refugee-camp-became-worst-place-syria |access-date=15 December 2024 |work=[[The Guardian|Guardian]] |date=2015-03-05}}</ref><ref name="b866">{{cite web | title=Yarmouk: a late obituary for the capital of the Palestinian diaspora | website=openDemocracy | date=22 June 2018 | url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/yarmouk-late-obituary-for-capital-of-palestinian-diaspora/ | access-date=18 October 2024}}</ref><ref>[http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394412 "Report: 14 Palestinians killed in Syria camp"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129042743/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394412 |date=29 November 2014 }}. [[Ma'an News Agency]], 8 June 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2013.</ref>

In 2012, the PFLP-FC supported the [[Syrian Army]] to fight the [[Syrian opposition to Bashar al-Assad|Syrian rebels]] in and around Yarmouk, working with the [[shabiha]] militias to besiege the camp.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Natasha |title=Palestinian Refugees and the Siege of Yarmouk |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2014/03/palestinian-refugees-and-the-siege-of-yarmouk?lang=en |publisher=[[Carnegie Endowment]] |access-date=15 December 2024 |date=2014-03-13}}</ref> On 3 August 2012, 21 civilians were killed when the Syrian Army shelled Yarmouk.<ref>[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/03/230127.html "At least 21 killed in shelling on Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria: NGO"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220114757/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/03/230127.html |date=20 December 2012 }}. [[Al Arabiya]], 3 August 2012.</ref> Palestinian president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] condemned the Syrian Army for shelling the camp and chided the PFLP-GC for dragging Palestinians into the conflict.<ref name=googlenews/>

On 5 December 2012, [[Yarmouk camp fighting (December 2012)|fighting erupted]] in Yarmouk between the Syrian Army and PFLP-GC on one side, and Syrian rebels on the other. The rebels included the [[Free Syrian Army]] (FSA) and a group made up of Palestinians, called Liwa al-Asifa or Storm Brigade. By 17 December, the rebels had won control of Yarmouk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=296510|title=Capturing Yarmouk camp another Syrian rebel gain|date=30 January 2011 |access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref> Afterwards, Government and rebel representatives agreed that all armed groups should withdraw from Yarmouk and leave it as a neutral zone. The agreement also said that the PFLP-GC should be dismantled and its weapons surrendered. However, a spokesman for the pro-rebel Palestine Refugee Camp Network said, "the implementation of the truce has been problematic" because of "intermittent" government shelling of Yarmouk and clashes on its outskirts.<ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/20/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html "Syrian fight now 'overtly sectarian,' U.N. says"]. [[CNN]], 20 December 2012.</ref>

Many PFLP-GC fighters reportedly defected to the rebels.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} One PFLP-GC commander said "I felt that we became soldiers for the Assad regime, not guards for the camps, so I decided to defect". He claimed that government forces stood by and watched as the PFLP-GC fought the rebels, without helping the Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/world/middleeast/syrian-airstrike-kills-palestinian-refugees.html|title=A Syrian Airstrike Kills Palestinian Refugees and Costs Assad Support|date=17 December 2012|work=The New York Times}}</ref> Ahmed Jibril reportedly fled Damascus for the Mediterranean city of [[Tartous]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-palestinians-idUSBRE8BE09O20121215|title=Palestinian faction leader Jibril leaves Damascus: rebels|work=Reuters|date=15 December 2012|access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref> Palestinian left-wing groups—including the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP), the biggest Palestinian leftist group—berated Jibril and the PFLP-GC.<ref name="pflp-on-defense"/> One PFLP official said "Everyone knows the true size of PFLP-GC. They are not representative of the Palestinians". Another said that Jibril "does not even belong to the Palestinian Left. He is closer to the extremist right-wing groups than to revolutionary leftist ones".<ref name=pflp-on-defense/> On 18 December, the [[Palestinian National Council]] (PNC) denounced Jibril, saying it would expel him over his role in the conflict.<ref name=jibril-expel/>

Despite being based in Syria, the PFLP-GC participated in fighting inside the Gaza Strip during the [[Gaza war]] from 2023, on the side of Hamas and [[Palestinian Joint Operations Room|allied Palestinian factions]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2023-11-07 |title=Not only Hamas: eight factions at war with Israel in Gaza |url=https://www.newsweek.com/not-only-hamas-eight-factions-war-israel-gaza-1841292 |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-22 |title=أبرزها القسام وشهداء الأقصى وسرايا القدس، معلومات عن فصائل المقاومة الفلسطينية |url=https://www.vetogate.com/5002565 |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=فيتو |language=ar-eg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran Update, April 11, 2024 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-april-11-2024 |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}</ref>

After the [[fall of the Assad regime]] in 2024, the [[Syrian caretaker government|Syrian transitional government]] demanded that all Palestinian armed groups in Syria disarm themselves, dissolve their military formations, and instead focus on political and charitable work.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://al-akhbar.com/lebanon/816122/%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%AB-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A--%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%A6%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B9| title = لبنان والحدث السوري: أسئلة حول المقاومة والاقتصاد والاجتماع والحرّيات| website = [[Al Akhbar (Lebanon)]]| date = 13 December 2024| access-date = 13 December 2024}}</ref> Representatives of the new Syrian government also raided the offices of PFLP-GC, Fatah al-Intifada, and as-Sa'iqa, confiscating documents, equipment, and weapons.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://inkstickmedia.com/what-does-assads-collapse-mean-for-syrias-palestinian-armed-groups/| title = Assad's Departure Raises Questions for Palestinian Armed Groups in Syria |author=Wesam Sabaaneh| website = Inkstick| date = 17 December 2024| access-date = 18 December 2024}}</ref> From 21 to 24 December, the [[Lebanese Armed Forces]] peacefully occupied most of the PFLP-GC's remaining bases in Lebanon, mainly those at the villages of [[Sultan Yacoub]] and Hechmech. This left only a base the town of [[Haret en Naameh|Naameh]] under the party's control, though it had reportedly offered to surrender its remaining weaponry to the Lebanese military.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.newarab.com/news/lebanese-army-takes-over-three-bases-held-palestinian-groups| title = Lebanese army takes over three bases previously held by armed Palestinian factions | website = The New Arab | date = 21 December 2024| access-date = 24 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1440937/lebanese-army-seizes-pro-assad-palestinian-factions-positions-timing-and-significance.html| title = Lebanese Army seizes pro-Assad Palestinian factions' positions: Timing and significance | author = Malek Jadah | website = L'Orient Today | date = 24 December 2024| access-date = 24 December 2024}}</ref> The new Syrian government ultimately allowed the PFLP-GC to continue its political activities in Syria, while the party reorganized its leadership including suspending Khaled Jibril's membership in the central committee.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/syrias-pro-assad-palestinian-factions-tout-organizational-changes | title = Syria's pro-Assad Palestinian factions tout organizational changes  | work = Daily Sabah | date = 12 February 2025 | access-date = 19 February 2025}}</ref> In February 2025, the party announced the election of Anwar Raja and Ramez Mustafa as new assistant secretary-generals. This sparked protests in Yarmouk Camp as locals argued that Anwar Raja had been the "'planner and mastermind' of the siege and violations" which had taken place at Yarmouk Camp over the previous years, particularly [[Battle of Yarmouk Camp (December 2012)|in 2012]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.actionpal.org.uk/en/post/13977/news-and-reports/the-popular-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine-general-command-announces-the-appointment-of-assistant-secretaries-general-amid-widespread-controversy | title = The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command announces the appointment of assistant secretaries-general amid widespread controversy | work = Action Group for Palestinians of Syria. | date = 23 February 2025 | access-date = 21 March 2025}}</ref> In June 2025, the Syrian government 'temporarily' closed all offices of the General  Command, part of its efforts to control Palestinian factions.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://qasioun-news.com/ar/articles/82745/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%BA%D9%84%D9%82-%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9 | title= Syria closes offices of the Popular Front - General Command}}</ref>

== International relations of PFLP-GC==
=== Lebanon ===
Its role in Lebanon after the Syrian Army Left Lebanon in 2005 (see [[Cedar Revolution]]) is uncertain, and it has been involved in a number of clashes with Lebanese security forces. In late October 2005, the [[Military of Lebanon|Lebanese Army]] surrounded camps of the PFLP-GC in a tense standoff, after Lebanese authorities claimed that the PFLP-GC was receiving Syrian arms across the border. The group has come under fierce criticism within Lebanon, accused of acting on Syria's behalf to stir up unrest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=21365|title=Outrage after PFLP-GC gunmen shoot two|work=The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon}}</ref>

===Syria===
At the beginning of the [[Syrian Civil War]] in 2011, the PFLP-GC was an ally of the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Ba'ath Party]]-led government of Syria. The PFLP-GC was based in [[Yarmouk Camp]] – a district of Damascus that is home to the biggest community of Palestinian refugees in Syria.<ref name=googlenews>{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jevFaBhWboO5_Mqrgpk7ycShh4RQ?docId=CNG.493b5bfef777e0c4e6e2103828c1614e.1b1 |title=AFP: Syria rebels 'clash with army, Palestinian fighters' |access-date=12 November 2016 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219055345/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jevFaBhWboO5_Mqrgpk7ycShh4RQ?docId=CNG.493b5bfef777e0c4e6e2103828c1614e.1b1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Several members of the PFLP-GC's central committee opposed this alliance with the Assad government and resigned in protest.<ref name=jibril-expel>[http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14427/ "Ahmad Jibril to be expelled from the PLO"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003105702/https://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14427/ |date=3 October 2018 }}. ''[[Al Akhbar (Lebanon)]]'', 18 December 2012.</ref>

===Designations of PFLP-GC as a terrorist organization===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
|Country
|Date
|References
|-
|{{flagcountry|European Union}}
|
|<ref name="eu-list"/>
|-
|{{flagcountry|Canada}}
|
|<ref name="auto2"/>
|-
|{{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
|June 2014
|<ref name="auto"/>
|-
|{{flagcountry|Japan}}
|2002
|<ref name="Japan_ban"/>
|-
|{{flagcountry|United States}}
|8 October 1997
|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=17 November 2014}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia|Palestine}}
*[[List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War]]
*[[Jibril Agreement]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{external links | date = May 2025}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.palestinesons.com/ |title=Official site |access-date=27 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011014416/http://www.palestinesons.com/ |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} {{in lang|ar}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060725225315/http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/pflpgc.htm Terrorism Resources. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)] (U.S. Navy) Source: Country Reports on Terrorism, 2004. United States Department of State, April 2005.
*[http://www.ict.org.il/organizations/orgdet.cfm?orgid=32 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004015104/http://www.ict.org.il/organizations/orgdet.cfm?orgid=32 |date=4 October 2006 }} (ICT)
*[http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=25 The International Dimension of PFLP-GC Activity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701133545/http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=25 |date=1 July 2006 }} by David Tal. The Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. JCSS Project on Low Intensity Warfare & The Jerusalem Post INTER – International Terrorism in 1989 (pp. 61–77) Tel-Aviv, 1990
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111008010531/http://www.palestineposterproject.org/content/popular-front-for-the-liberation-of-palestine-general-command-pflp-gc Collection of PFLP-GC posters]

==Further reading==
*Katz, Samuel M.''Israel versus Jibril: The Thirty-year War Against a Master Terrorist.'' New York: Paragon House, 1993.
{{notelist}}
{{Israeli-Palestinian conflict |Participants}}
{{Syrian civil war}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine - General Command}}
[[Category:Arab nationalist militant groups]]
[[Category:Offshoots of the Arab Nationalist Movement]]
[[Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Palestine]]
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[[Category:Factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization]]
[[Category:Guerrilla organizations]]
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[[Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the European Union]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist]]
[[Category:Palestinian militant groups]]
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[[Category:Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]]
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[[Category:1968 establishments in Palestine]]
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