The History of Hamas
Hamas is an acronym of Harakat al-Muqawamat al-Islamiyyah, meaning Islamic Resistance Movement. It is a socio-political organisation with an associated paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
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Given the escalation and continuation of the Zionist regime (of Israel’s) anti-human and brutal attacks on the defenseless people of Palestine, Islamic countries should hold close consultations to stop the strikes. I will say very clearly, no country can accept rockets fired indiscriminately at citizens. And so, we’ve been very clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against what I consider to be |
The Palestinian Islamist faction sprung up as an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to challenge the moderately secular Palestine Libera-tion Organization of the late Yasser Arafat. Hamas came into being during the First Intifada- a Palestinian uprising in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip that began in 1987 and raged for four years until a peace conference in Madrid in 1991.
Hamas was established in 1987, and has its origins in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, which had been active in the Gaza Strip since the 1950s and gained influence through a network of mosques and various charitable and social organisations. In the 1980s the Brotherhood emerged as a powerful political factor, challenging the influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and in 1987 adopted a more nationalist and activist line under the name of Hamas. During the 1990s and early 2000s,
the organisation conducted numerous suicide bombings and other
attacks against Israel. In the Palestinian legislative election of January 2006, Hamas gained a large majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the ruling
Fatah party.
What led to Gaza crisis?The murders of three Israeli teenagers, and the apparently retaliatory murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammad Abu Khieder, ignited the Gaza crisis.
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After the elections, conflicts arose between Hamas and Fatah, which they were unable to resolve. In June 2007, Hamas defeated Fatah in a series of violent clashes, and since that time Hamas has governed the Gaza portion of the Palestinian Territories, while at the same time they were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade on Gaza and largely sealed their borders with the territory.
—Bureau Report
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