Galilee Forces

Not to be confused with Liwa al-Jalil, which is another independent, minor Palestinian pro-government militia in Syria.^[1]

The Galilee Forces (Quwat al-Jalil) is a majority-Palestinian militia formerly allied with the Ba'athist Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War. It serves as the armed wing of the Movement of the Youth of the Palestinian Return (Arabic: حركة شباب العودة الفلسطينية, romanized: Harakat Shabab al-Oudat al-Falastinia).^[2] The Galilee Forces have a sub-unit, the Badr Brigades, which was active in Aleppo.^[4]

Galilee Forces
قوات الجليل Quwat al-Jalil
Emblem of the Galilee Forces
Leaders	Fadi al-Mellah[2] (overall leader) Abu Ali Badran[3] (deputy commander) Munir Abboud †[4] (Badr Brigades commander)
Dates of operation	2012 – ?
Group(s)	Badr Brigades[4]
Active regions	Syria (formerly)[2]
Ideology	Palestinian nationalism[2]
Size	4,800 (claimed)[2]
Part of	Movement of the Youth of the Palestinian Return[2]
Allies	PFLP-GC Syrian Army (until 2024)  Hezbollah
Opponents	Free Syrian Army Ahrar al-Sham Jaysh al-Islam Al-Nusra Front Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Battles and wars	Palmyra offensive (March 2016)[2] Ithriyah-Raqqa offensive (June 2016)[5] Wadi Barada offensive (2016–2017)[6] Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016)[4] Central Syria campaign[7] Eastern Syria campaign Deir ez-Zor offensive (September–November 2017)[8] Southern Damascus offensive (April–May 2018)[9]

After the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, the 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.^[10]

See also

• Asia portal
• Palestine portal

• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War