Hamas

The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas , is a <a href="/facts/Palestinian_nationalist/buIhvK9S">Palestinian nationalist</a> <a href="/facts/Sunni_Islam/WYo0zeq0">Sunni</a> <a href="/facts/Islamism/4u3G2nEf">Islamist</a> political organisation with a military wing, the <a href="/facts/Qassam_Brigades/yggRS8Mm">Qassam Brigades</a>. It has <a href="/facts/Gaza_Strip_under_Hamas/h00j0r5q">governed</a> the <a href="/facts/Israeli-occupied_territories/FxQkx2V8">Israeli-occupied</a> <a href="/facts/Gaza_Strip/GodcCxlV">Gaza Strip</a> since 2007.
The Hamas movement was founded by Palestinian Islamic scholar <a href="/facts/Ahmed_Yassin/slemmIv2">Ahmed Yassin</a> in 1987, after the outbreak of the <a href="/facts/First_Intifada/pBcf45xY">First Intifada</a> against the <a href="/facts/Israeli_occupied_territories/FxQkx2V8">Israeli occupation</a>. It emerged from his 1973 <a href="/facts/Mujama_al-Islamiya/7hcHJKV2">Mujama al-Islamiya</a> Islamic charity affiliated with the <a href="/facts/Muslim_Brotherhood/Asoct77P">Muslim Brotherhood</a>. In the 2006 <a href="/facts/2006_Palestinian_legislative_election/Co9gL72n">Palestinian legislative election</a>, Hamas secured a majority in the <a href="/facts/Palestinian_Legislative_Council/7ARvq0wW">Palestinian Legislative Council</a> by campaigning on promises of a corruption-free government and advocating for resistance as a means to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation. In the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Gaza_(2007)/xWtETuwz">Battle of Gaza</a>, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from rival Palestinian faction <a href="/facts/Fatah/43bcYlrX">Fatah</a>, and has since governed the territory separately from the <a href="/facts/Palestinian_National_Authority/AhB1P7E7">Palestinian National Authority</a>. After Hamas's takeover, <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> significantly intensified existing movement restrictions and imposed a complete <a href="/facts/Blockade_of_the_Gaza_Strip/AxDFH2Cd">blockade of the Gaza Strip</a>. Egypt began its blockade of Gaza in 2007. This was followed by multiple wars with Israel, including those <a href="/facts/Gaza_War_(2008%25E2%2580%25932009)/2CTaAgcT">in 2008–09</a>, <a href="/facts/2012_Israeli_operation_in_the_Gaza_Strip/fm8C0QWy">2012</a>, <a href="/facts/2014_Gaza_War/ohAzVkfk">2014</a>, <a href="/facts/2021_Israel%25E2%2580%2593Palestine_crisis/xa8LaT5w">2021</a>, and <a href="/facts/Gaza_war/dmUoIpBw">an ongoing one since 2023</a>, which began with the <a href="/facts/7_October_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel/vRHlfVYB">7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel</a>.
Hamas has promoted Palestinian nationalism in an <a href="/facts/Religious_nationalism/K6fU5kb0">Islamic context</a>. While initially seeking a state in all of former <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">Mandatory Palestine</a> it began acquiescing to 1967 borders in the agreements it signed with Fatah in <a href="/facts/Palestinian_Cairo_Declaration/xpQ5Yu4L">2005</a>, <a href="/facts/Palestinian_Prisoners%2527_Document/9KmQvqnm">2006</a> and <a href="/facts/Fatah%25E2%2580%2593Hamas_Mecca_Agreement/kVLXhsgk">2007</a>. In 2017, Hamas released a <a href="/facts/A_Document_of_General_Principles_and_Policies/qgH99MFu">new charter</a> that supported a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders without recognizing Israel. Hamas's repeated offers of a <a href="/facts/Hudna/XaYkbyCF">truce</a> (for a period of 10–100 years: 221–246 ) based on the 1967 borders are seen by many as consistent with a <a href="/facts/Two-state_solution/qVur4GnX">two-state solution</a>, while others state that Hamas retains the long-term objective of establishing one state in former Mandatory Palestine.: 837, 839  While the <a href="/facts/1988_Hamas_charter/6zCWIKhF">1988 Hamas charter</a> was widely described as <a href="/facts/Antisemitism/kUpfFkqx">antisemitic</a>, Hamas's 2017 charter removed the antisemitic language and said Hamas's struggle was with <a href="/facts/Zionism/kL92sl76">Zionists</a>, not Jews. It has been debated whether the charter has reflected an actual change in policy.
In terms of foreign policy, Hamas has historically sought out relations with Egypt, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey; some of its relations have been impacted by the <a href="/facts/Arab_Spring/IJrjLoll">Arab Spring</a>. Hamas and Israel have engaged in protracted <a href="/facts/Israeli%25E2%2580%2593Palestinian_conflict/JU7ynqCl">armed conflict</a>. Key aspects of the conflict include the <a href="/facts/Israeli_occupation_of_the_West_Bank/oW4n3psF">Israeli occupation of the West Bank</a> and Gaza Strip, the <a href="/facts/Status_of_Jerusalem/d1NNVCrT">status of Jerusalem</a>, <a href="/facts/Israeli_settlement/vSrw9ylS">Israeli settlements</a>, borders, water rights, the <a href="/facts/Israeli_permit_regime_in_the_West_Bank/JLzWzfsB">permit regime</a>, <a href="/facts/Palestinian_freedom_of_movement/uqD5kzV5">Palestinian freedom of movement</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Palestinian_right_of_return/T3EbjNXV">Palestinian right of return</a>. Hamas has attacked Israeli civilians, including using <a href="/facts/Palestinian_suicide_attacks/NxNmdEem">suicide bombings</a>, as well as <a href="/facts/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel/Fpy1pCrW">launching rockets</a> at Israeli cities. Australia, Canada, Paraguay, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union, have designated Hamas as a <a href="/facts/List_of_designated_terrorist_groups/LmnuRFFL">terrorist organization</a>. In 2018 and 2023, a motion at the <a href="/facts/United_Nations/fgXLnmgT">United Nations</a> to condemn Hamas was rejected.

Hamas open-in-new

Hamas