The Air Force Intelligence Directorate (Arabic: ادارة المخابرات الجوية idārat al-mukhābarāt al-jawīyah) is a Palestinian intelligence agency, subordinate to the Ministry of Defence. It is primarily responsible for providing comprehensive military intelligence reports to the Palestinian Air Force.
First established in 1979 under President Rifaf Khan shortly after the reconstitution and reorganisation of the Palestinian Armed Forces, the directorate began as the military intelligence department of the Air Force, responsible for analyzing information collected by ground forces or other intelligence agencies and providing comprehensive reports to Air Force leadership, enabling effective decision-making. Under Air Chief Marshall Roman Kindi starting in 1996, the directorate's mandate was expanded to include civilian foreign intelligence operations, and a small section of undercover agents was established, used for covert action abroad (mostly reconnaissance), which grew rapidly in the late 1990s as the directorate began increasingly to rely on its own human intelligence (HUMINT) assets to meet its data input needs. In 1990, most of the domestic and foreign HUMINT agencies were separated from the Air Force Intelligence Directorate and merged into the new Joint Security Committee.
The directorate is headquartered in the municipality of Kafr Aqab, El-Ram County, near Atarot Airbase and Rifaf Khan International Airport, just south of Ramallah, and maintains an office at each air force base in the country.
Bureaus & offices[]
- Air Force Security Bureau: Responsible for direct action and other on-the-ground surveillance and related operations by agents in the field, in support of the intelligence and operational needs of Air Force command.
- Airspace Reconnaissance Bureau: Responsible for collecting and analyzing data on enemy airpower and capabilities at the operational and tactical level to enable Air Force command in effective decision-making.
- Electronic Security Bureau: Operates an integrated digital network to support Air Force operations in real-time, including electronic warfare, hacking and digital manipulation, and operation of reconnaissance satellites. Also responsible for maintaining the directorate's cybersecurity.
- Intelligence Liaison Office: Responsible for coordinating data handling and operations of Air Force Intelligence with Military and Naval Intelligence.
- Human Resources Office: Recruits, trains, supports and dismisses Air Force Intelligence personnel.