Database: Identifiers of Designated Islamic Terrorist Organizations
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Designation Status (as of October 12, 2026)
| US State Dept FTO | Listed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) since October 8, 1997 |
|---|---|
| US Treasury OFAC SDN (SDGT) | Listed POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE |
| UK Proscribed | Not listed official list |
| EU Terrorist Lists | Listed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine since June 18, 2002 |
| Canada Listed Entities | Listed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) since November 13, 2003 |
| Australia Listed | Not listed official list |
Profile written 2014 The profile below is the original Jihad Intel text and has not been updated. Designation status above is current.
Designated as terrorist by: Canada, European Union, United States
Base of operations: Palestinian Territories
Background: Council on Foreign Relations
Background: START (University of Maryland)
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is a resistance movement founded by George Habash following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. A nationalist group with Marxist-Leninist underpinnings, it seeks to remove Western influence from the Middle East and views Israel as the central component of this struggle. Differentiations in ideologies have sparked some fractures, leading to independent factions. PFLP operatives pioneered the use of hijackings as a terror tactic in the late 1960s and 1970s, notably teaming with West German leftists in 1976 to seize an Air France flight and divert it to Entebbe, Uganda, where Israeli commandos later freed the hostages. The PFLP became affiliated with Yasser Arafat's PLO in 1968 but was subsequently marginalized by the rise of Islamist groups such as Hamas in the 1990s. However, the organization regained some clout during the Second Intifada, assassinating Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001. It remains active despite attrition of its ranks.
