Jamaat Bayt al-Maqdis al-Islamiya

Jamaat Bayt al-Maqdis al-Islamiya was an active armed group in the Syrian Civil War, that has been active since at least early 2015. Initially the group was praised by many pro-ISIL circles on social media in early 2015 claiming it was ISIL expanding into the Daraa Governorate as the group used a similar banner to ISIL however the group held no links to ISIL, in an official statement the group described itself as “an Islamic group…[working] to support the religion of God and make His word highest”,[3] however the group also has not shown any hostilities towards ISIL like many of its allies such as the Southern Front and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra). The group did not take part in fighting between other opposition groups that it is allied with against ISIL affiliates in Southern Syria but a portion of its members did defect to the ISIL affiliated groups at odds with the group's opposition allies.

Jamaat Bayt al-Maqdis al-Islamiya
Participant in the Syrian Civil War
The flag used by the group
Active	Early 2015 – present?
Ideology	Islamism
Leaders	Abu Omar al-Shami
Headquarters	Jasim, Daraa Governorate, Syria
Area of operations	Daraa Governorate and Quneitra Governorate, Syria
Size	60–70
Part of	Bunyan al-Marsous operations room Tahrir al-Sham[1]
Allies	Tahrir al-Sham Free Syrian Army Southern Front Ahrar al-Sham Jabhat Ansar al-Islam Jaysh al-Islam Alwiya al-Furqan Islamic Muthanna Movement (Until 2016)
Opponent(s)	Syria  Russia  Iran Hezbollah Liwa Fatemiyoun Fatah al-Intifada Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada
Battles and war(s)	Syrian Civil War 2015 Southern Syria offensive Daraa Governorate campaign Daraa offensive (February–June 2017) Daraa offensive (June 2017)

In early and mid 2017 the group joined the Bunyan al-Marsous operation room and took part in several offensives in Daraa against pro-government forces. The decision to join the same operations room with other mainstream opposition groups caused further defections from the group, with many fighters either joining the ISIL-affiliated Khalid ibn al-Walid Army or simply going home.[4][5][6]