| Country: | Syria |
| Details of Formation: | The PFLP-GC split from the PFLP in 1968. Its main base is the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. It has close ties to both Syria and Iraq. |
| Details of Termination: | In late 2012, the Yarmouk refugee camp fell in the hands of the Free Syrian Army. The PFLP-GC retreated from the camp and joined the government forces. Under an agreement between government and rebel negotiators, the PFLP-GC should be dismantled and its weapons surrendered. However, the implementation of the agreement and the truce was described as problematic (CNN 2012). News sources continue to refer to the PFLP-GC as an active PGM in the years that follow. |
| Purpose: | The PFLP-GC supports the Syrian forces in its fights against insurgents during the Syrian civil war. They were also authorized by President Assad to attack Israeli in retaliation against Israeli war plane attacks near Damascus. |
| Organisation: | The PFLP-GC has long been aligned with Syrian President Assad. It receives logistical and military support from the Syrian government, and financial support from Iran. Since its foundation the group has been led by Ahmed Jibril, a former captain in the Syrian army and a strong ally of Assad. |
| Weapons and Training: | The PFLP-GC held trainings for other Palestinian terrorist groups. It had been authorized by Assad to use missile batteries against Israel. The Syrian government provides the group with military support; it is unclear exactly what this implies. |
| Size: | The US Department of State estimated in 2014 that the PGM had several hundred members. |
| Reason for Membership: | One former PFLP-GC fighter reports that he had fought for the PGM to protect the camps. When he realized he should fight rebels instead he defected to the rebels (The New York Times 2012). |
| Treatment of Civilians: | Syrian rebels have accused the PFLP-GC of cracking down on opposition in Yarmouk. In at least one case, the PFLP-GC kidnapped a civilian and demanded ransom paying for his release. They did not release him and did not give any notice about his whereabouts or whether he might still be alive. Smuggled photographs later showed that he had been killed (Human Rights Watch 2015). |
| Other Information: | The PFLP-GC commands Popular Committees. As the PFLP-GC also is an armed structure in itself and acts as such, it is coded as a separate PGM, although parts of its operations can be situated within the Popular Committees framework. |
| References: |
CNN. 2012. “Syrian fight now 'overtly sectarian,' U.N. says.“ December 20. https://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/20/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html Human Rights Watch. 2015. “If the Dead Could Speak. Mass Deaths and Torture in Syria’s Detention Facilities.” December 16. https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/16/if-dead-could-speak/mass-deaths-and-torture-syrias-detention-facilities The New York Times. 2012. “A Syrian Airstrike Kills Palestinian Refugees and Costs Assad Support.” December 16. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/world/middleeast/syrian-airstrike-kills-palestinian-refugees.html Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD |