Terror organization: Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Status: Leader of the organization. Palestinian, originally from Gaza, after his role in terror activities and time in Israeli prison was exiled to Lebanon and moved later to Syria;

Role: Established the Al Qods brigades of the organization. Deputy since 1995, secretary general since 2018;

Location: Syria;

Born: April 6, 1953;

Place of Birth: Gaza;

Gender: Male;

Nationality: Palestinian;

General Info:
Born in 1953 in Gaza, Al-Nakhala is the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and he is based in Damascus, Syria. Al-Nakhala was detained by Israel a number of times since 1971. In 1971, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Israel because of his terrorist activities with the Arab Liberation Front.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad activity:
He was one of the 1,500 security prisoners released by Israel on 21 May 1985 in a prisoner swap under the Jibril Agreement. Al-Nakhalah was detained again by Israel for his role in the first Intifada, and was exiled to Lebanon in 1988 with other PIJ leaders. Al-Nakhala became deputy secretary general of PIJ in 1995.

On 23 January 2014, al-Nakhalah was designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the United States, resulting in his property and interests in the United States being frozen. The US authorities also offered a $5-million reward for information leading to his capture.

Al-Nakhalah was elected secretary general of PIJ on 28 September 2018, succeeding Ramadan Shalah, who suffered a series of strokes in April 2018.