Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Ziyad al-Nakhalah (sometimes Ziad Nakhale; Arabic: زياد النخالة; born 6 April 1953) is a Palestinian politician who is the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

Nakhalah was born in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip in 1953, then under Egyeptian control. His father was killed by the Israeli army during the 1956 Khan Yunis massacre. He finished his primary and secondary education in Khan Yunis and Gaza City. He then attended the Teachers' Institute in Gaza, earning a teaching diploma. In 1971, al-Nakhalah was sentenced to life imprisonment in Israel because of his militant activities with the Arab Liberation Front, and was later released in a prisoner swap in 1985.

After his release from Israeli prison, he was tasked with establishing the PIJ's military wing in the Gaza Strip, the Al-Quds Brigades. Al-Nakhalah was detained again by Israel in April 1988 for his role in the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation, and was exiled to Lebanon in August 1988 with other PIJ leaders. Nakhalah became deputy secretary general of PIJ in 1995, and was later elected secretary general of PIJ in 2018.

On 23 January 2014, Nakhalah was designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the United States, resulting in his property and interests in the United States being frozen. Since 28 September 2018, the PIJ has been declared a terrorist organization by several countries.