Database: Identifiers of Designated Islamic Terrorist Organizations

Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya

Not yet designated terrorist by a Western country.
Base of operations: Syria
Background: Aymenn al-Tamimi

Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya (The Islamic Bait al-Maqdis Group), not to be confused with the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis group that became the Islamic State's Sinai province affiliate, is a jihadist group operating in the southern Syrian provinces of Deraa and Quneitra. It is commonly mischaracterized as a Palestinian group on account of the Bait al-Maqdis reference. In reality it primarily consists of local Syrians. Suspected of Islamic State-alignment on account of the similarity of its flag with that of the Islamic State, the group actually suffered a number of defections in early 2016 as its leadership chose to join an operations room with some FSA groups. This account has been provided both by a defector and a source still in the group, though the latter affirmed that the aim was strictly a military one of 'fending off the attacks of the Nusayris only' (derogatory reference to Alawites) as the groups were together on the same frontline. Some of the defectors were Islamic State sympathisers and have subsequently joined what is now the Islamic State-linked Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed in southwest Deraa province. In any case, Jama'at Bayt al-Maqdis al-Islamiya continues to operate on the ground, participating in an offensive in Quneitra province in September 2016 called Qadisiya al-Janub.

Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya Emblem	Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya Flag	Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya: Headgear	Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya: Media Office
Jamaat Bait al-Maqdis al-Islamiya: Old Emblem and Flag