Ziyad al-Nakhalah (6 April 1953-) was Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad from 28 September 2018, succeeding Ramadan Shalah.
Biography[]
Ziyad al-Nakhalah was born in Khan Yunis, Palestine in 1953, and, in 1971, he was sentenced to life in prison for his militant activities with the Arab Liberation Front. However, he was released in a 1985 prisoner exchange. He became a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and established the al-Quds Brigades in the Gaza Strip; he was detained by Israel in 1988 for his role in the First Intifada, and he was exiled to Lebanon that same year. In 2018, he took over the leadership of the PIJ after Ramadan Shalah was debilitated by several strokes.