Palestine

Palestine

The name Palestine (Παλαιστίνη, or فِلَسْطِين) historically refers to region lying between the Mediterranean sea and the River Jordan. It can also refer to the British Mandate of Palestine, established by the League of Nations in 1922, which became the State of Israel in 1948, and sparked a decades-long struggle between Jews and Palestinians (as well as neighboring Arab states) for control of the region. Israel retains absolute authority over the region, although it has relinquished some limited rights of self-governance to Palestinians living in certain areas.

Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization (منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية) was established as a political and paramilitary orgnization with the stated goal of the "liberation of Palestine." Since 1974 it has considered the establishment of an independent Palestinian state of the highest priority. The term fedayeen (فِدائيّين), meaning "men of sacrifice" or "redeemers," was first applied to Palestinian fighters by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who began arming and organizing small units for his own purposes beginning in 1955. Paramilitary factions of the PLO (most of whom call themselves fedayeen) have employed guerilla warfare tactics from bases in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and within Israel to attack Israeli military and civilian targets, and some ultra-militant groups are responsible for terrorist practices, including kidnappings, assassinations, bombings, and the like. Although a Charter exists, there is no governing mechanism within the PLO, and a number of factions claiming membership have been established, many of them with incongruent goals and methods. The following list identifies some of the former and current member factions of the PLO:

• Al-Fatah (فتح) - the name means "conquest," although the full name is Ha'arakat al-Tahrir al-Watani Filastini (حركة التحرير الوطني الفلسطين) or Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine. A left wing/nationalist party founded in 1954 by Yasser Arafat. Its military arm is Al-'Asifa (العاصفة), meaning "the storm"
• Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)(الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين) - militant communist (founded 1967)
• Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, General Command (PFLP-GC) - Syrian-backed splinter group (founded 1968)
• Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)(الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين) - Marxist/Leninist (founded 1969)
• Palestinian People's Party (PPP)(حزب الشعب الفلسطيني) - socalist (founded 1982)
• Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF)(جبهة التحرير الفلسطينية) - founded 1961
• Arab Liberation Front (AFL)(جبهة التحرير العربية) - allied to Iraqi Ba'ath Party (founded 1969)
• As-Sa'iqa or al-Saika (الصاعقة) or "lightning bolt" - Syrian-controlled Ba'athist faction (founded 1968)
• Al-Fatah Revolutionary Council (فتح المجلس الثوري), aka the "Abu Nidal Organization" - a militant splinter group founded in 1973 that rejected any possibility of peace with Israel. Distinctly terrorist in nature, the faction is responsible for the assassinations of many Palestinian "corroborators"
• Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) - founded 1967
• Palestine Democratic Union (Fida)(الاتحاد الديمقراطي الفلسطيني) - founded 1990
• Palestinian Arab Front (PAF)(الجبهة العربية الفلسطينية) - founded 1993

Formed in 1964 and initially envisioned as the military wing of the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) was created by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. The PLA rarely if ever deployed in support of the PLO itself, instead operating as a proxy fighting force of its host governments, first the Egyptian Army and later the Syrian Army, until around 1993. Following the signing of the Oslo Accords, a substantial number of PLA soldiers formed the core of the Palestinian Authority's (see below) National Security Forces. A Syrian wing of the PLA continues to operate, and has some degree of cooperation with certain PLO factions such as As-Sa'iqa.

Palestinian guerrilla units have always naturally operated with whatever uniforms and equipment were available, and were best suited to the environment, although it is worthy of note that, according to author Samuel Katz, the PLO as a whole was one of the best-financed guerrilla organizations in history. Although vast numbers of Palestinian combatants have simply worn regular civilian clothing in order to better blend in with their urban environments, some factions and individual units have adopted military camouflage clothing for operational and impressionistic purposes. Students of the conflicts in Israel and Lebanon as well as the PLO itself have attempted to document the usage of insignia and uniforms whenever possible. Nevertheless, the tremendous variety of supplies and war materiel available over more than sixty years of fighting make a complete inventory impossible.

The Palestinian National Authority (السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية), or PA as it is often referred to, was created in 1994 as part of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement and was envisioned as a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip areas of Israel. The Palestinian Civil Police Force (الشرطة المدنية الفلسطينية) were also formed as part of this agreement. The PA were granted responsibility over civil matters and internal security only, but lost control of the Gaza Strip to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) after the Battle of Gaza in June 2007. Hamas has governed Gaza independently from the Palestinian National Authority into the present era.

The Palestinian Security Services (الأجهزة الأمنية الفلسطينية) is a blanket term for the combined armed forces and intelligence services of the Palestinian State, which is now recognized by 157 member states of the United Nations as of September 2025. The Palestinian Security Services comprise twelve branches, including the Security Forces, Civil Police Forces, Presidential Guard, National Sercurity Forces, Preventative Security Force, the General Intelligence Service, and the Civil Defense Directorate.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack against Israel, resulting in more than 1,200 (mostly civilian) deaths and the taking of approximately 250 hostages back to holding places in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government retaliated almost immediately, launching a full-scale invasion of Gaza that has resulted in more than 42,000 Palestinian deaths, of which over half are believed to have been civilian women and children. Hamas' control over the Gaza Strip is tenuous at best in late 2024.

Camouflage Patterns of Palestinian Paramilitary Forces

• Early units of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) as well as early PLO (PLFP) units wore Egyptian-made reversible rocks/sand camouflage pattern uniforms from the 1960s to 1970s.

• Copies of the French lizard pattern were also worn by the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) during the 1970s. Although at least one source claims these were made in East Germany it seems more likely they were procured through sources in Syria or Iraq.

• Another lizard variant worn by the PLA and As-Sa'iqa commandos features purplish-brown and olive green horizontal stripes on a greyish-green background, thus earning the nickname "purple lizard." As with the brighter versions, these uniforms appear to have been sourced in Syria and may even be surplus stocks from Syrian military supplies.

• El-Fatah guerillas of the PLO have been repeatedly documented wearing vertical stripe or vertical lizard pattern camouflage uniforms during the 1960s and early 1970s. Many of these uniforms were fabricated in Egypt during the period of the United Arab Republic (UAR). Several variations have been documented, including one that is typically mis-labeled "Lebanese blue" in many circles.

• There is ample evidence showing use of the East German produced blumentarn camouflage design within the PLA as well as among some factions of the PLO, including possibly versions in odd or lighter-colored palettes. At least some of these uniforms were locally made, possibly from donated fabric, or may even have been made from lighter weight fabrics produced on East German equipment, since the original NVA-issue uniforms were made from heavier canvas material.

• Many uniforms worn by Palestinian forces were sourced from South Korean companies during the 1970s. Among these, the "waves" or "swirl" pattern worn by the ROK Special Forces is documented in use by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Although the pattern is the same, the uniform design is different from the Korean model. These may have been sourced through Iraq, which also wore the pattern.

• The camouflage design seen in this photograph has been associated with Palestinian forces in several sources from the 1970s era. It appears to be a kind of Brushstroke variation incorporating very dark olive and purplish-brown strokes with very long and thin brush trails on a sandy-colored background. Some photographs illustrate the pattern oriented horizontally, as this one, while others indicate a vertical alignment. Most likely of local origin, the design may have been produced in one of the nearby nations such as Syria or Egypt.

• A leaf pattern camouflage in use by the Iraqi Popular Army was also worn by the Arab Liberation Front (ALF) during the 1980s. Probably sourced through Iraq, the uniforms were made in Romania and South Korea.

• Another South Korean camouflage pattern encountered among Palestinian forces is that of the ROK Marines. The so-called "turtle shell" design was worn by As-Sa'iqa commandos during the 1980s, although the uniform design is completely different from that of the Korean Marines.

• Originally seen during the "Black September" crisis in Jordan, the Czech-made mlok (salamander) camouflage pattern was frequently encountered within the PLA, as well as among various PLO combatants well into the 1990s.

• The design seen below is of undetermined origin, but may have been produced in Cyprus. A brushstroke-derivative, the pattern incorporates reddish-brown and olive green shapes on a yellow-tan background, and is very crudely printed. Camouflage uniforms of the same or very similar designs to this were also worn by the Progressive Socialist Party in Lebanon, a paramilitary unit closely allied with Palestinian causes.

• The Al-Quds Brigades (سرايا القدس), the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, operating primarily out of the Gaza Strip, wear copies of the US woodland and chocolate chip desert camouflage patterns. Some troops have also appeared wearing the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) and copies of US temperate and desert MARPAT. Additionally, at least three other digipat designs have been worn by Al-Quds Brigade soldiers, one featuring black and dark olive green shapes on a khaki background, another brown dominant digipat, and an interesting version of UCP that includes an olive green shade rather than something more akin to grey.

• The Islamic Resistance Movement (حركة المقاومة الإسلامية), abbreviated Hamas, was founded in 1987 as a Sunni Islamist political movement and has historical ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and with the Mujama' al-Islami (المجمع الإسلامي). Its military wing is known as the Al-Qassam Brigades (كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام) and was created in 1991. These paramilitary brigades have been responsible for numerous attacks on Israeli targets since 1993, the most notorious of which was the October 7 (2023) attack resulting in 1,200 Israeli deaths and more than 250 hostages taken back to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has been the de facto governing body since control was wrested from Al-Fatah in 2007. At the height of its strength, Israeli intelligence estimated Hamas could field up to 30,000 combatants, organized in 5 brigades and 24 battalions. A number of camouflage patterns have been associated with the Al-Qassam Brigades, including some unique pixelated designs, as well as some more conventional patterns.

• During a demonstration in the West Bank in 2009, the PFLP also wore a four-color "blotch" type pattern during this period, having dark green, dark brown and light brown blotch or woodland shapes on a khaki or tan background. Early versions of this design were reputedly locally-manufactured, although the ones shown in the 2009 photographs appear to be commercially manufactured.

• At least one pattern documented in use by the Al-Qassam Brigades is a copy of the Malaysian Army arid digital pattern, probably made in China.

Camouflage Patterns of the Palestinian Security Services

• With the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), several units were created to assist with law enforcement and border security. The earliest camouflage design to make an appearance within the Security Forces was a copy of the US m81 woodland pattern in various types of fabric. The earliest appearance of woodland camouflage was around 1994-95 and it has continued to be part of the inventory of the National Security Forces into the present day.

• As early as 1995, units of the Palestinian Security Services could be seen wearing a copy of the American six-color chocolate chip desert pattern. The pattern continued to see use for more than a decade, and eventually made its way to Palestinian insurgent groups as well.

• Also making an appearance around 1999 within the Palestinian Civil Police Force was a unique leaf camouflage design with a blue colorway. This design saw continuous use well into the early 2000s. There have been other variations, including some with an almost lavender coloring, but this version was consistently issued for quite a number of years in the row.

• A few years later, circa 2002, a blue or purple "urban" DPM camouflage design would make an appearance within the Civil Police Force, often worn concurrently with the previously issued "leaf" design.

• The PNA Presidential Guard have also been documented wearing the French CE woodland camouflage pattern on some occasions, in a BDU style uniform. By 2012, the uniforms had been obtained through several different sources.

• The PNA Presidential Guard have also been documented on a few occasions wearing a version of the French CE woodland pattern with a very darkened color palette. The effect is similar to that of the fabric being dyed black, and yet this is not the case.

• Circa 2008, units of the PNA Security Forces appeared wearing the Jordanian Army's KA2 desert digital camouflage pattern.

• Created in 1996, the Palestinian Civil Defense (الدفاع المدني الفلسطيني) is primarily responsible for emergency and rescue services in regions under the control of the PA and Hamas. In the modern era, the PCD has adopted the same digital camouflage pattern as worn by the Jordanian Civil Defense Directorate.

• First appearing in 2021 or possibly earlier, some elements of the National Security Forces have adopted a copy of the old Polish Armed Forces wz93 Pantera camouflage, albeit with a slightly modified color palette. This design continues to be worn by some personnel into the present era.