SUMMARY
The Islamic Resistance Movement’s more commonly known name –Hamas- is an acronym of the Arabic Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya; which translates into meaning “zeal” . The movement is also sometimes referred to as the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya fi Filistin).
Hamas was born of the First Intifada, which began in 1987, as a wing of the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood organization. Founded by Sheik Ahmed Yassin in late 1987, Hamas was a natural outgrowth of this religious and social organization, created to take an active part in, and benefit from, the nationalistic outbursts during this struggle against Israeli occupation.
The popularity of Hamas can be said to have its roots in its social and religious work (in cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood), coupled with increasing disillusionment of the secular and nationalist struggle waged by the PLO and Fatah. Hamas’ Charter of 1988 clearly spells out the solution to the Palestinian problem being the uprooting of the state of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state on all of Palestinian land (meaning not only the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but also all of the land of the state of Israel) . Hamas considers peace conferences and a negotiated solution to the Palestinian conflict to be equivalent to heresy , yet it does not view the PLO or secular Palestinian forces as an enemy. Hamas, however, has chosen not to participate in the PLO. Hamas views democracy as a Western influence and as being contrary to Islamic rule, but has since its inception participated in the few institutions in the Palestinian territories to which representatives are elected (before the establishment of the PNA). They have also stated that even though an Islamic state is its goal, democracy is preferred in the transitional period when compared to a dictatorship . The military wing of Hamas is called Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (after Sheik Izz al-Din al-Qassam, a Muslim cleric in British mandate Palestine ), and was created in 1991.
Hamas has strong links to the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), whose cadres are drawn mainly from Hamas factions, as well as former Tanzim operatives.
Throughout its history it has been rumoured that Hamas has received financial and other support from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt and other Muslim countries, as well as Muslim diasporas in the West.
In 2006 Hamas ended its boycott of Palestinian institutions established under the Oslo Accords, and swept to victory in January 2006 elections, ousting the Fatah faction and assuming control of the PNA. From being an outcropping of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas is now one of the largest Palestinian factions in the occupied territories, with its main support base and bases of operations being found in the Gaza Strip, which in turn lead to an increase in antagonistic rivalry with the Fatah faction.
Hamas’ first leader was Sheik Ahmed Yassin (together with six other founding members), who also founded the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza. Yassin was imprisoned by Israel in 1989, but continued to retain overall leadership whilst being in prison. Yassin was released from jail in 1997, following a prisoner “swap” for Mossad agents who had failed to assassinate Khaled Meshal in Jordan, and were subsequently captured. In 2004 Yassin was killed in an Israeli missile strike, and Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi took up the leadership of Hamas. He too was killed, only a month after Yassin’s death. Hamas did not disclose their next leader, widely believed to be Mahmoud al-Zahar . Throughout these years Khaled Meshal, based in Damascus, can be seen as an overall leading figure. His predominance was confirmed in 2005 and 2006, with leadership over Hamas now being vested in PNA premier Ismail Haniyah (in the PNA), Mahmoud al-Zahar (in Gaza) and Khaled Meshal (in Syria). It is important to note though, that Hamas has a “collective leadership” and a governing Shura council, which includes other figures than the ones mentioned above.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched its largest and most coordinated attack against Israel to date. In response, Israel initiated a massive bombing campaign and full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli airstrikes targeted and killed a number of top Hamas officials. The targeted assassinations, combined with military pressure and a deepening humanitarian crisis, severely disrupted Hamas’s command structure but did not fully dismantle the organization.
Hamas has been involved in the intrastate, non-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
