MPR Country Profile

Palestine Military Power Ranking 2026

Palestine ranks 142nd globally in the 2026 Military Power Rankings. It does not maintain a conventional sovereign military, but it operates security forces focused on internal security, law enforcement, civil order, and limited territorial administration.

Its security structure is shaped by restricted sovereignty, split authority between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, limited control over borders and airspace, and the presence of separate armed actors operating outside a unified national command.

Internal Security Irregular Warfare Split Authority Restricted Sovereignty Urban Security

MPR Rank 142nd

MPR Score 203

MPR Index 0.0461 1.0000 is perfect

Reverse MPR Index 0.9040 0.0000 is perfect

Z Score -0.651 Standard deviations from the mean

Doctrine Profile Internal, irregular, split

MPR Overview

Palestine ranks 142nd globally in the 2026 Military Power Rankings. It does not maintain a conventional military in the sovereign-state sense, but it does operate security forces responsible for policing, internal security, intelligence, regime protection, and civil-order missions, especially in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority's security institutions are shaped by the Oslo framework, external oversight, donor training, and limited administrative control. In Gaza, Hamas and associated armed formations operate outside PA control and represent a separate military-political structure with irregular warfare capabilities.

This split governance model limits unified command, doctrine, procurement, mobilization, intelligence integration, and strategic planning. Palestine's MPR position reflects this combination of constrained sovereignty, territorial fragmentation, limited conventional equipment, and the absence of independent air, naval, and missile forces.

Palestine ranks 142nd in the 2026 Military Power Rankings. It does not maintain a conventional military, but operates a series of security forces primarily tasked with internal security, law enforcement, and civil order—particularly in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority (PA) retains limited administrative control. The lack of sovereign control over airspace, borders, and strategic infrastructure severely restricts any potential for force projection or conventional military development.

Palestine’s security institutions exist under the framework of the Oslo Accords, leading to a fragmented command structure between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The result is a dual governance model, where Hamas maintains de facto military power in Gaza, and the PA controls police and paramilitary-style forces under the oversight of Israel and international monitors.

Strategic Geography Schematic

Core MPR Strengths

Palestine’s limited security apparatus has strengths in urban crowd control, territorial policing, and civil defense, supported by international training missions.

The Palestinian Civil Police and Preventive Security Organization are well-developed in the West Bank, focused on civil unrest control, community security, and intelligence gathering.

Cooperation with international donors and UN-backed training has improved professionalism in recent years.

These units are lightly equipped but maintain discipline and urban deployment readiness.

Security forces have received training from the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) and the EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EUPOL COPPS).

Emphasis is placed on rule of law, public order, and de-escalation tactics.

Though not under PA control, Hamas operates a structured militant wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, with capabilities for asymmetric warfare, rocket fire, tunnel operations, and urban combat.

These forces have engaged in direct armed confrontation with Israeli forces and are considered irregular yet organized military actors within the region.

MPR Doctrine and Strategy

Palestine's security doctrine is fragmented. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is structured around internal security, police operations, intelligence coordination, civil-order management, and limited paramilitary readiness. Its doctrine is constrained by political agreements, donor oversight, Israeli security controls, and limited territorial authority.

Gaza's armed groups follow a different model centered on irregular warfare, urban defense, tunnels, rockets, decentralized cells, and asymmetric confrontation. This creates a divided security environment rather than a single national military doctrine.

The overall MPR assessment treats Palestine as a constrained and divided security actor, not as a conventional military power. Its force posture is defensive, internal, irregular, and politically fragmented.

Force Profile

Palestine's force structure is not organized as a conventional army, navy, and air force. The Palestinian Authority maintains internal-security organizations, while Gaza-based armed groups operate separate armed structures outside PA control.

This separation reduces institutional cohesion and prevents the formation of a unified national defense command.

Ground Forces

Palestinian ground capability is centered on security forces, police formations, paramilitary units, small arms, light vehicles, and irregular armed groups. The Palestinian Authority does not field heavy armor, modern artillery, mechanized brigades, or conventional combined-arms formations.

Gaza-based groups possess small arms, improvised weapons, rockets, tunnels, and urban defensive networks. These capabilities are significant in local conflict conditions but do not create conventional military parity with state militaries.

Air Power

Palestine has no combat aircraft, air-defense aviation, military helicopters, transport aircraft, airborne early-warning systems, or independent airspace-control capability.

Gaza International Airport is non-functional, and Palestine does not maintain a military aviation branch capable of air mobility, aerial surveillance, strike operations, or air defense.

Naval Forces

Palestine does not maintain a formal navy. Gaza has limited coastal access, but its maritime activity is constrained and does not amount to a sovereign naval force.

Any maritime activity is tactical and localized rather than strategic. Palestine has no warships, submarines, naval aviation, replenishment capability, or blue-water access.

Palestine does not maintain a conventional navy; the West Bank is landlocked, while Gaza has a Mediterranean coastline. In Gaza, limited coastal defense efforts exist, but these are not officially classified as a naval force.

Merchant Marine Fleet: None

Naval Infrastructure: Coastal guard units in Gaza

Naval Replenishment Capability: Minimal (smuggling-based)

Missile Systems

The Palestinian Authority does not possess advanced missile systems, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, long-range air defense, or a formal national missile force.

Militant groups in Gaza have used short-range rockets and improvised projectile systems against Israel. These systems are separate from PA security forces and are not part of a unified state-controlled missile command.

Palestine does not possess advanced missile systems or nuclear capabilities. However, militant groups in Gaza, such as Hamas, have used makeshift rockets in the conflict with Israel. These capabilities are not part of the formal security forces of the Palestinian Authority.

Detailed Missile Inventory

Nuclear and Strategic Deterrence

Palestine has no nuclear weapons, no strategic missile force, and no sovereign strategic deterrent. Its deterrence environment is political, irregular, and externally constrained.

Strategic power is shaped more by diplomacy, international recognition campaigns, local security dynamics, and asymmetric conflict than by conventional military force.

Cyber, Space, ISR, and Electronic Warfare

Palestine does not operate military satellites, airborne early-warning systems, strategic ISR aircraft, or an advanced electronic-warfare architecture.

The Palestinian Authority maintains intelligence and internal-security services, while Hamas operates its own internal-security and military-intelligence structures in Gaza. These systems are divided and politically separate.

Space or Satellite Programs: None

Partnerships and Alliances

Palestine relies heavily on diplomacy, international aid, regional relationships, and external training support. It does not possess a formal defense alliance comparable to a sovereign military treaty structure.

Palestine relies heavily on international aid and diplomatic relations with the Arab League, European Union, and various NGOs for assistance in maintaining its security forces. While not having formal military alliances, Palestine receives political support from countries like Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey. International organizations also assist in training and equipping the security forces under the Palestinian Authority’s control.

Defense Alliances: Hamas with Iran and Hezbollah; PA aligned with Western donors

Combat History

Palestinian conflict history is dominated by uprisings, urban conflict, irregular warfare, security operations, and repeated conflict in and around Gaza. The result is a security environment shaped by non-state armed actors, local militancy, counterinsurgency, policing, and asymmetric warfare.

Palestinian forces have experience in internal policing, irregular conflict, intelligence work, urban security, and asymmetric environments, but Palestine has not developed a conventional military capable of state-on-state warfare.

The war beginning in October 2023

On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other Gaza-based armed groups attacked communities and military positions in Israel, killing civilians and soldiers and taking hostages. Israel launched an intensive air campaign and subsequently major ground operations in Gaza. UN reporting documented widespread displacement, destruction of civilian infrastructure and severe restrictions on essential supplies. This large-scale war must be distinguished from the earlier recurring local clashes: it combined organized cross-border attacks, rocket fire, tunnel warfare and prolonged urban operations with a humanitarian crisis. These events do not turn the Palestinian Authority’s security services and separate armed groups into a unified national military.

Palestine’s military history is characterized by irregular warfare, asymmetric resistance, and urban conflict, largely in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

First Intifada (1987–1993)

A widespread civil uprising in the West Bank and Gaza, marked by stone-throwing, mass protests, and civil disobedience. Though largely unarmed, the movement established popular committees and built grassroots resilience, influencing the eventual creation of the Palestinian Authority through the Oslo Accords.

Second Intifada (2000–2005)

Marked by urban warfare, suicide bombings, and Israeli military incursions. Palestinian groups engaged in asymmetric combat, especially in Nablus, Jenin, and Gaza, facing significant civilian and militant casualties. The period transformed various militant organizations into hardened urban combatants.

Gaza Wars (2008–2009, 2012, 2014, 2021)

A series of conflicts between Israel and Hamas, with Hamas deploying rockets, mortars, and tunnel-based infiltration tactics. These confrontations involved heavy use of urban combat, civilian shielding, and asymmetric engagements, with Israel conducting airstrikes and ground operations in response. Hamas demonstrated organized military tactics, including command-and-control systems and localized battlefield zones.

Recurring Localized Conflict (from 2015; distinct from the war beginning in October 2023)

Regular outbreaks of clashes, protests, and border incidents in both East Jerusalem and Gaza, often involving light arms, IEDs, kites, rockets, and raids. The IDF frequently conducts targeted operations, while militant groups respond with limited indirect fire or ambushes.

Though Palestine lacks a state-level army, its population and factions have been extensively engaged in conflict with Israel, gaining considerable experience in guerrilla tactics, civil resistance, and irregular warfare. However, the absence of central command and fragmentation of authority severely limits the strategic efficacy of these capabilities.

Geography, Economy, and Infrastructure

Oil production (2025 MPR assessment): none recorded.

Natural-gas resources (2025 MPR assessment): approximately 1 trillion cubic feet at the undeveloped Gaza Marine field; reserve classification and reference year not independently updated here.

Oil reserves (2025 MPR assessment): none recorded.

Palestinian geography is split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Terrain includes the Gaza coastal plain, central highlands of the West Bank, and the Jordan Valley.

The lack of full sovereign control over borders, airspace, crossings, ports, and strategic infrastructure severely limits military mobility, logistics, procurement, force expansion, and defense-industrial development.

Natural resources include limestone, agricultural land, and the undeveloped Gaza Marine natural-gas field. Energy dependence remains a major strategic constraint.

Bordering Countries: Israel, Egypt, Jordan

Climate: Temperate; mild winters, dry summers

Terrain: Coastal plain (Gaza), central highlands (West Bank), Jordan Valley

Natural Resources: Limestone, agricultural land

National Metrics

Capital: East Jerusalem (claimed); Ramallah (PA administrative center)

Founding Date: November 15, 1988 (declaration of independence)

Military Infrastructure and Readiness

Military infrastructure is limited and politically divided. PA security centers are concentrated around West Bank administrative areas such as Ramallah, while Gaza-based groups maintain separate facilities and decentralized networks.

Palestine has no independent strategic airlift, no military ports, no sovereign defense-industrial infrastructure, and no conventional mobilization system comparable to a state military.

Missile Inventory Highlights: Short-range rockets (Gaza), small arms (West Bank)

Major Military Airports: None (Gaza airport non-functional)

Military Installations (Domestic): Ramallah (PA), Gaza City (Hamas)

Military Installations (Overseas): None

Foreign Military Personnel Presence: None officially; indirect advisors present

Defense Industry

Palestine has no conventional defense-industrial base. The Palestinian Authority depends on imported, donated, or externally authorized equipment for security forces.

Gaza-based groups have developed improvised production and smuggling-based supply systems, but these do not amount to a modern defense industry. Palestine cannot independently manufacture armored vehicles, aircraft, precision missiles, advanced sensors, or integrated command systems.

Key Wartime Industries Beyond Defense: Civil resistance logistics, improvised manufacturing

Why Palestine Ranks 142nd

Palestine's low ranking reflects the absence of a conventional military, divided armed authority, limited sovereignty, and severe material constraints.

The Palestinian Authority maintains functional internal-security forces, while Gaza-based armed groups possess localized irregular capabilities. Together, these forces create a complex security environment but not a unified conventional military power.

Split Military Governance and Territorial Fragmentation Security and armed power are divided between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, preventing unified command, doctrine, or institutional military development.

Total Dependence on Foreign Political Agreements Military and security operations are heavily constrained by Israeli oversight, international diplomacy, and donor-state restrictions.

Minimal Strategic Deterrence or Power Projection Security forces operate in a non-sovereign environment, without access to external borders or independent intelligence assets, negating any capacity to deter or wage external conflict.

Palestine’s ranking reflects the absence of a conventional military, the internal division of armed authority, and the severe geopolitical restrictions under which its security forces operate. Despite these limitations, the Palestinian Authority maintains a functional internal security force with international recognition, while Hamas in Gaza operates a separate and contentious military structure. Palestine’s overall military posture is defined by internal policing, irregular warfare, and reactive defense measures within a highly constrained security environment.

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• OCHA account of the October 2023 escalation