The History of Hamas is an account of the
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
Islamist fundamentalist
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...
socio-political organization with an associated
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
force, the
Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
() ''Ḥamās'' is an acronym of , meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement".
Hamas was established in 1987, and has its origins in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
's
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
movement, which had been active in the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
since the 1950s and gained influence through a network of mosques and various charitable and social organizations. In the 1980s the Brotherhood emerged as a powerful political factor, challenging the influence of the
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...
, and in 1987 adopted a more nationalist and activist line under the name of Hamas. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the organization 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
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, e ...
, defeating the ruling
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
party. 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
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
, while at the same time the unity government of which they formed a part in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
was dissolved by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
then imposed an
economic blockade on Gaza and largely sealed their borders with the territory.
["Gaza faces economic disaster if blockade continues, U.N. official warns"](_blank)
International Herald Tribune[Dion Nissenbaum]
. McClatchy Newspapers
The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states and ...
. December 8, 2008.
After acquiring control of Gaza, Hamas-affiliated and other militias launched rocket attacks upon Israel, which Hamas ceased in June 2008 following an
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian-brokered ceasefire.
The ceasefire broke down late in 2008, with each side accusing the other of responsibility. In late December 2008,
Israel attacked Gaza, withdrawing its forces in mid-January 2009. Since 2009, Hamas has faced multiple military confrontations with Israel, notably the 2012 and 2014 Gaza Wars, leading to substantial casualties. Hamas has maintained control over Gaza, often clashing with the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah. Efforts at reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have seen limited success. Hamas has continued to face international isolation and blockades, while engaging in sporadic rocket attacks and tunnel construction activities against Israel. In 2023 the
Israel-Hamas war began.
Early Islamic activism in Gaza
With its takeover of Gaza after the
1967 war with Egypt, Israel tolerated and at times encouraged Islamic activists and groups as a counterweight to the secular nationalists of the PLO and its dominant faction, Fatah.
Israel hunted down secular
Palestinian Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...
factions, but dropped the previous Egyptian rulers' harsh restrictions against Islamic activists.
Among the activists benefited was
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin ( ar, الشيخ أحمد إسماعيل حسن ياسين; 1 January 1937 – 22 March 2004) was a Palestinian politician and imam who founded Hamas, a militant Islamist and Palestinian nationalist organi ...
, leader of the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
in Gaza, who had also formed the Islamist group
Mujama al-Islamiya
The Mujama al-Islamiya ("Islamic Centre") is an Islamic charity which was established in 1973 in Gaza by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who had been involved with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Mujama ...
, a charity recognized by Israel in 1979. Israel allowed the organization to build
mosques
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...
, clubs, schools, and a library in Gaza.
Yitzhak Segev, the Israeli governor of Gaza in 1979, said he had no illusions about Yassin's intentions, having watched an Islamist movement topple the
Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
as Israel's military attache in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. However, in conformity with the quietist approach characteristic of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, which unlike many Palestinian factions, did not boycott Israel's occupation of the Strip after 1967, and Yassin and his charity were considered "100% peaceful" towards Israel during this time. Segev maintained regular contact with Yassin, met with him around a dozen times, and arranged for Yassin to be taken to Israel for hospital treatment.
Also, Segev said, Fatah was "our main enemy."
Islamists frequently attacked secular and leftist Palestinian movements, including Fatah, but the Israeli military avoided getting involved in those quarrels.
It stood aside, for example, when Mujama al-Islamiya activists stormed the
Red Crescent
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
charity's headquarters in Gaza, but Segev did send soldiers to prevent the burning down of the home of the head of the organization.
In 1984 the Israeli army received intelligence that Yassin's followers were collecting arms in Gaza. Israeli troops raided mosques and found a cache of weapons.
Yassin was arrested, but told his interrogators the weapons were meant to be used against secular Palestinians, not Israel. The cleric was released a year later and allowed to continue to develop his movement in Gaza.
Around the time of Yassin's arrest, Avner Cohen, an Israeli religious affairs official, sent a report to senior military officers and civilian leadership in Gaza advising them of the dangers of the Islamic movement, but this report and similar ones were ignored.
Former military intelligence officer Shalom Harari said the warnings were ignored out of neglect, not a desire to fortify the Islamists: "Israel never financed Hamas. Israel never armed Hamas."
The founding of Hamas
Hasan and Sayedahmed (2018) cite multiple sources that say that Hamas was founded in the late 1970s as a religious counterweight to the secular Fatah. Other sources say that Hamas was founded by Yassin and six other Palestinians as an offshoot of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
's Muslim Brotherhood after Palestinians were killed in a traffic accident involving an Israeli driver during the events that followed–
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
, a Palestinian uprising against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The new group was supported by Brotherhood-affiliated charities and social institutions that had already gained a strong foothold in the occupied territories. The acronym "Hamas" first appeared in 1987 in a leaflet that accused the Israeli intelligence services of undermining the moral fiber of Palestinian youth as part of
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
's recruitment of what Hamas termed "collaborators." Nonetheless, Israeli military and intelligence was still focused on Fatah, and continued to maintain contacts with Gaza Islamic activists. Numerous Islamist leaders, including senior Hamas founder
Mahmoud Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar ( ar, محمود الزهار ') (born 6 May 1945) is a Palestinian politician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar served as Foreign Minister of Palestinian Authority, ...
, met with
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
as part of "regular consultations" between Israeli officials and Palestinians not linked to the PLO.
King (2009) wrote that the nonviolence of the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
"neither lifted the military occupation nor stopped the implanting of Israeli settlements in lands set aside for the Palestinians by the United Nations. Nevertheless, the uprising's nonviolent sanctions achieved more than had decades of armed attacks on largely civilian targets. ... Israeli agents provacateurs in Arab disguise ... joined demonstrations and sought to incite demonstrators to use violence. The local committee
rganizing the nonviolent demonstrationsprevented such provocations from instigating lethal escalations." The First Intifada disintegrated "into violence after Israel's incarceration, deportation, or discrediting of the very activist intellectuals who had sustained the uprising's nonviolent character".
Hamas carried out its first attack against Israel in 1989, abducting and killing two soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces immediately arrested Yassin and sentenced him to life in prison, and deported 400 Hamas activists, including Zahar, to
South Lebanon
Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...
, which at the time was occupied by Israel. During this time Hamas built a relationship with Hezbollah.
From 1987 to 1991, Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the ''
hijab
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
'' alongside other measures, including insisting women stay at home, be segregated from men, and the promotion of
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
. In the course of this campaign women who chose not to wear the ''hijab'' were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the ''hijab'' was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'.
[Rubenberg, C., ''Palestinian Women: Patriarchy and Resistance in the West Bank'' (USA, 2001) p.230–231]
The 1990s
Hamas's military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991. Although the Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, they operate independently, and at times contrary to Hamas policy. During the 1990s the al-Qassam Brigades conducted numerous attacks against civilians and the Israeli military. From April 1993 these included
suicide bombings
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
, for which Hamas became well known internationally.
[For suicide attacks, sources include:
* "To the outside world, Hamas is best-known—infamous—for its reliance on suicide bombers."]
Palestinian territories:Inside Hamas
, ''PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
'' '' Frontline: World'', May 9, 2006)
* "...the militant organization, best known abroad for its attacks against Israeli civilians..." (Musharbash, Yassin
"Could Victory be Undoing of Hamas"
, ''Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', January 27, 2006)
* "...it was best known in Israel and abroad for the suicide attacks it used..."
"After the Hamas earthquake"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', January 27, 2006). The Brigades'
Yahya Ayash
Yahya Abd-al-Latif Ayyash ( ar, يحيى عياش) (6 March 1966 – 5 January 1996) was the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. In that capacity, he earned the nickname ''the E ...
who may have masterminded most of the early suicide attacks, was killed by the
Israeli secret service in early 1996.
[The Palestinian people: a history](_blank)
By Baruch Kimmerling & Joel S. Migdal, pp. 372–373
In December 1992 Israel responded to the killing of a border police officer by deporting 415 leading figures of Hamas and
Islamic Jihad to Lebanon, which provoked international condemnation and a unanimous UN Security Council resolution, number 799, condemning the action and demanding the return of those deported. Those expelled had their identification papers confiscated and were bussed through the
Israeli security zone in southern Lebanon, and released at the Zamraya crossing. Each deportee was given $50. On their arrival, the Lebanese authorities refused to allow them any further into Lebanon and they set up camp on the mountainside at Marj al Zuhur. Amongst those deported were around 100
sheikhs
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
,
imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
,
muezzin
The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day (Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important role ...
s,
qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
and other religious figures. 170 had university degrees or equivalent diplomas. Israel admitted seventeen, including a sixteen-year-old, had been deported by mistake. On 9 September 1993, coinciding with the
Oslo agreement
The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...
, 181 of the remaining 396 deportees were returned to the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
where the majority were immediately detained by the Israeli authorities. The remaining 197 deportees returned to the
Occupied Territories
Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
on 4 December 1993, 29 were immediately taken into custody and 18 did not return.
Although the suicide attacks by the al-Qassam Brigades and other groups violated the 1993
Oslo accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; (which Hamas opposed),
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, President
Yasir Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
was reluctant to pursue the attackers and may have had inadequate means to do so.
Some analysts stated that the Palestinian Authority could stop the suicide and other attacks on civilians but refused to do so.
In September 1997, Israeli agents in Jordan attempted but failed to kill Hamas leader
Khaled Mashaal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
. In a bid to release Mossad agents captured by the Jordanian authority after the failed assassination attempt, King Hussein secured a deal with Israel to swap Yassin with Mossad agents. Two years later Hamas was banned in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, reportedly in part at the request of the United States, Israel, and the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, .
["Jordan curbs Hamas"](_blank)
, ''The Guardian'', November 22, 1999 Jordan's
King Abdullah feared the activities of Hamas and its Jordanian allies would jeopardize peace negotiations with Israel, and accused Hamas of engaging in illegitimate activities within Jordan.
[Hamas Leader Khaled Mashaal](_blank)
''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', January 4, 2009[Jordan: Whether Hamas persecute, kidnap, torture or abuse with impunity Jordanian citizens who disagree with its methods, policies and ideology](_blank)
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, October 25, 2000, JOR35666.E. Retrieved September 28, 2010. In mid-September 1999, authorities arrested Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal and
Ibrahim Ghosheh on their return from a visit to Iran, and charged them with being members of an illegal organization, storing weapons, conducting military exercises, and using Jordan as a training base.
[Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, by Matthew Levitt, Dennis Ross. Yale University Press, 2007. p.45] Hamas leaders denied the charges.
Mashaal was exiled and eventually settled in Syria.
The Second Intifada
Al-Qassam Brigades militants were among the armed groups that launched both military-style attacks and suicide bombings against Israeli civilian and military targets during the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, ''Intifāat El Aqa''; he, אינתיפאדת אל-אקצה, ''Intifādat El-Aqtzah''), which began in late September 2000. This
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
uprising against Israeli rule in the occupied territories was much more violent than the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
. The military and civilian death toll was estimated at 5,500 Palestinians, more than 1,100 Israelis, and 64 foreigners. A 2007 study of Palestinian suicide bombings during the Second Intifada (September 2000 through August 2005) found that about 40 percent were carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades.
The immediate trigger for the Second Intifada is disputed, but a more general cause, writes U.S. political science professor Jeremy Pressman, was "popular Palestinian discontent
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
grew during the Oslo peace process because the reality on the ground did not match the expectations created by the peace agreements." Hamas would be the beneficiary of this growing discontent in the 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections.
2004 – Negotiation Attempts
In January 2004, Hamas leader Yassin said that the group would end armed resistance against Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, including
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
, and the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
, and that restoring Palestinians' "historical rights" (relating to the
1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight
In 1948 more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of prewar Palestine's Arab population – were expelled or fled from their homes, during the 1948 Palestine war. The exodus was a central component of the fracturing, dispossession ...
) "would be left for future generations."
[Running out of time](_blank)
''Al-Ahram Weekly'', January 29 – February 4, 2004 On January 25, 2004, senior Hamas official
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi
Abdel Aziz Ali Abdul Majid al-Rantisi ( ar, عبد العزيز علي عبد المجيد الحفيظ الرنتيسي; 23 October 1947 – 17 April 2004), nicknamed the "Lion of Palestine" was the co-founder of Palestinian Sunni-Islamic org ...
offered a 10-year truce, or ''
hudna
A ''hudna'' (from the Arabic meaning "calm" or "quiet") is a truce or armistice. It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire". In his medieval dictionary of classical Arabic, the ''Lisan al-Arab'', Ibn Manzur defined it as:
: "''hadana'': he gre ...
'', in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the complete withdrawal by Israel from the
territories captured in the 1967
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
.
Al-Rantissi stated that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation."
[Israel rejects 'insincere' Hamas offer of 10-year truce](_blank)
''The Independent'' January 27, 2004 Israel immediately dismissed al-Rantissi's statements as insincere and a smokescreen for military preparations.
Yassin was killed in a
targeted killing
Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...
on March 22, 2004, by an Israeli air strike, and al-Rantisi was killed by a similar air strike on April 18, 2004.
From the time of an attack on the Israeli southern town of
Be'er Sheva
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
in August 2004, in which 15 people were killed and 125 wounded, a truce was generally observed. Hamas violated it in August 2005, with an attack on the same bus station, wounding seven, and in several attacks on Israeli motorists—killing six.
At the end of January 2004,
U.S. Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
mandated Steve Cohen, a U.S. official, to meet with Hamas officials, according to the French newspaper ''
Le Canard enchaîné
(; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris.
Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...
''. The mission was not only to inform the U.S. about the Hamas objectives, according to the newspaper, but also to evaluate if it could represent a counterbalance to
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. In exchange for such cooperation, according to ''Le Canard'', Hamas officials asked for the end of extrajudicial
targeted killings
Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and be ...
carried out against them by the Israeli military.
[''Les très secrètes 'relations' Israël-Hamas'' (The very secret Israel-Hamas 'relations'), '']Le Canard Enchaîné
(; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris.
Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...
'', February 1, 2006 (issue n°4449)
While Hamas boycotted the
2005 Palestinian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in the West Bank and Gaza Strip of the Palestinian National Authority on Sunday, 9 January 2005 to elect the President of the Palestinian National Authority, to succeed Yasser Arafat, who had died on 11 November 2 ...
, it did participate in the
2005 municipal elections organized by Yasser Arafat in the occupied territories. In those elections it won control of over one third of Palestinian municipal councils, besting Fatah, which had traditionally been "the biggest force in Palestinian politics". With this electoral success behind it, Hamas contested the
2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council as the main component of the List of Change and Reform.
2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
In 2004, in a prelude to
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip.
Th ...
from the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces carried out a number of military attacks targeted at militants in Gaza cities and refugees camps, seeking to draw out and kill Hamas-affiliated gunmen. Awareness of high casualties during such incursions led the Hamas leadership to instruct its activists to avoid putting themselves needlessly in the line of fire. On September 12, 2005,
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
withdrew from the Gaza Strip and declared an official end to Israeli military rule in Gaza, though Israel still retained control of the airspace and of the sea. However, the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, argued that the occupation was ongoing, as complete
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
includes control of both airspace and seaways. The Gaza Strip was called a "lawless open-air prison".
Hamas claimed that this unilateral withdrawal was a victory for its armed struggle and pledged to liberate all the occupied territories, including the West Bank and
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
. Fatah, on the other hand, viewed
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
S ...
's unilateral plan as proof of the Palestinians' failure to obtain international recognition. Both criticized the disengagement plan, citing Sharon's simultaneous encouragement of
Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
s in the West Bank, including
Ma'ale Adumim
Ma'ale Adumim ( he, מַעֲלֵה אֲדֻמִּים; ar, معالي أدوميم) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. ...
, a large settlement east of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
In April 2005, an advisor of
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
, a principal right-wing opponent of Ariel Sharon, secretly negotiated with a Hamas representative, according to the ''
Le Canard enchaîné
(; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris.
Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism a ...
''. The meeting was about the "possibility of an administrative co-gestion with the Hamas in the occupied territories", which is already the case in some Hamas-controlled cities of the West Bank, according to the French newspaper, which continued: "But, in both sides, participants to such a dialogue keeps their mouth shut (''bouche cousue''). It is impossible to admit that one has met and negotiated with his sworn enemy."
January 2006 – Winning the legislative election
While Hamas had boycotted the
January 2005 presidential election, during which
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
was elected to replace Yasser Arafat, it did participate in the
municipal elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
held between January and May 2005, in which it took control of
Beit Lahia
Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya ( ar, بيت لاهيا) is a city in the Gaza Strip north of Jabalia, near Beit Hanoun and the 1949 Armistice Line with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 59 ...
and
Rafah
Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...
in the Gaza Strip and
Qalqilyah
Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41,73 ...
in the West Bank. The
January 2006 legislative elections marked another victory for Hamas, which gained the majority of seats, defeating the ruling
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
party. The "List of Change and Reform", as Hamas presented itself, obtained 42.9% of the vote and 74 of the 132 seats.
Political decisions, and consequences on economy
The result of the election was regarded as a major setback for governments attempting to mediate the ongoing
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jew ...
. The
George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic in ...
immediately declared that it would not deal with Hamas until it renounced its support of suicide bombings and violence, and accepted Israel's right to exist. Israeli president
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav ( he, מֹשֶׁה קַצָּב; born 5 December 1945) is an Israeli former politician who was the List of Presidents of Israel, eighth President of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset ...
and Israel's ex–prime minister
Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...
both said that if Hamas would accept Israel's
right to exist
The right to exist is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the 19th-century French philosopher Ernest Renan, a state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the communit ...
and give up violence, Israel should negotiate with the organization. President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
said that Russia would not support any efforts to cut off financial assistance to the Palestinians, stating that Hamas gained power by democratic means. He invited some Hamas leaders to Moscow beginning of March 2006, and in May, repeated that cutting funds to the Hamas was a "mistake".
The US and the EU cut all funds to the Palestinian Authority, with only Russia warning against the potential dangers of cutting out the PA from any Western support. The EU (which gives $500 million per year to the PA) announced that future aid to the Palestinians was tied to "Three Principles" outlined by the international community—Hamas must renounce violence, it must recognize Israel's right to exist, and it must express clear support for the Middle East peace process, as outlined in the 1993
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; . Hamas did not seem to be ready to accept such conditions, and rejected them as "unfair".
["Hamas rejects 'unfair' aid demand"]
, BBC News, January 31, 2006 At best, they would be ready to accept the
Arab Peace Initiative
The Arab Peace Initiative ( ar, مبادرة السلام العربية; ), also known as the Saudi Initiative (; ), is a 10 sentence proposal for an end to the Arab–Israeli conflict that was endorsed by the Arab League in 2002 at the Beiru ...
formulated on March 28, 2002, during the
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
Beirut Summit
The Beirut Summit (also known as the Arab Summit Conference) was a meeting of the Arab League in Beirut, Lebanon in March 2002 to discuss the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. At the time Yassar Arafat, the leader of Palestine, was under house-arre ...
: full normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal to the
1967 internationally recognized borders, implying Israeli evacuation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip,
east Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
, the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
and the
return of all Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
Furthermore, the US has imposed a financial blockade on the PA's banks, impeding some of the
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
's funds (e.g.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
) from being transferred to the PA.
Israel, on the other side, decided to cut transfers of the $55 million tax-receipts of the PA that it receives on the PA's behalf, since the PA did not have any access point to receive taxes. On February 19, 2006, interim
Israeli Prime minister
The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exec ...
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
, who called the PA a "terrorist authority", decided to stop transfer of the $55 million tax-receipts to the PA, which accounts for a third of the PA's budget (two thirds of its proper budget) and insure the wages of 165,000 Palestinian civil servants (among them 60,000 security and police officers).
Israel had already done that in 1991 and 1992, but international aid had covered up the budgetary losses. Israel also decided to increase controls on check-points, but finally decided against blocking Palestinians from commuting between Gaza and the West Bank and from prohibiting them to work in Israel. Criticizing these measures, moderate
Labor leader
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
Amir Peretz
Amir Peretz ( he, עָמִיר פֶּרֶץ; born on 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Minister of Defen ...
said that they were "indirect ways" to "get around Hamas and strengthen moderate forces" among the Palestinians.
In May 2006, following a
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
report about the
Palestinian economy, the
Quartet on the Middle East
The Quartet on the Middle East or Middle East Quartet, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the Israeli ...
(the United States, Russia, European Union, and the United Nations) agreed to transfer funds directly to the
Palestinian population. Israeli minister of foreign affairs,
Tzipi Livni
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
, said the measure was "acceptable", while PA minister of foreign affairs,
Mahmoud Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar ( ar, محمود الزهار ') (born 6 May 1945) is a Palestinian politician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar served as Foreign Minister of Palestinian Authority, ...
, welcomed the promise of aid but criticised attempts to bypass the PA: "We appreciate every effort in order to help the Palestinian people by legal channels... and the legal channel is the Palestinian Authority, whether the presidency or the government,".
The World Bank had already compared the 2001 and 2002 economic recession, due to the
Second Intifada
The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...
and Israel's refusal to transfer tax receipts, to the
1929 economic crisis
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...
. The
UN underlined that unemployment, which was estimated to 23% in 2005, would increase to 39% in 2006, while
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
, estimated at 44%, would increase to 67% in 2006.
According to a World Bank report published on May 7, 2006, the delay in paying the PA's civil servants—who had not received their wages since March 2006—was dangerous both on social and security plans. This convinced the United States to accept the EU proposal, supported by Russia and the Arab countries, of finding a way to transfer funds to the Palestinian society without passing by the Palestinian Authority. The Quartet on the Middle East thus accepted, on May 9, 2006, an "international temporary mechanism of limited range and length"
Last Fatah measures
Before the Israeli decision to cut transfer of tax receipts, the Palestinian Assembly passed legislation giving the Palestinian President,
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
, the power to appoint a court that could veto legislation passed by the new Hamas-led parliament to be sworn in start of February. The constitutional court would veto legislation deemed in violation of the Palestinians' Basic Law, a forerunner to the Palestinian constitution. Palestinian deputies also backed a
decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
that automatically makes members of the incoming parliament members of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) parliament in exile. Unlike the Hamas charter, the PLO charter recognises the legitimacy of Israel.
Hamas' declarations since the 2006 legislative elections
Hamas has omitted its call for the destruction of Israel from its election manifesto, calling instead for "the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem,".
On February 8, Hamas head
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
speaking in Cairo clarified that "Anyone who thinks Hamas will change is wrong".
However, on February 13, 2006, in an interview in Russian newspaper ''
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Независимая газета, p=nʲɪzɐˈvʲisʲɪməjə ɡɐˈzʲetə, t=Independent Newspaper) is a Russian daily newspaper.
History and profile
''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' was first published on 21 December ...
'', the same Khaled Mashal declared that Hamas would stop armed struggle against Israel if it recognized the 1967 borders, withdrew itself from all
Palestinian occupied territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The In ...
(including the West Bank and East Jerusalem), and recognized Palestinian rights that would include the "right of return". This was the first time that Hamas even talked about an eventual stop to armed struggle. But Mashal continued to refuse to acknowledge the
Road map for peace
The Roadmap for peace or road map for peace ( he, מפת הדרכים ''Mapa had'rakhim'', ''Khāriṭa ṭarīq as-salāmu'') was a plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict proposed by the Quartet on the Middle East: the United State ...
, adopted by the Quartet in June 2003, "since nobody respects it". The Road map projected the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in 2005. The Palestinian Authority's Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda conducted a poll in 2006 that showed that 84% of Palestinians support a peace deal with Israel, based on the responses of "863 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and West Bank," and that more than 75% of the peace-deal supporters voted for Hamas.
In April 2006,
Henry Siegman
Henry Siegman (born 1930) is a Weimar Republic, German-born American. He is President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP), an initiative focused on U.S.-Middle East policy and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, launched by the Council on Fo ...
, former director of the
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
, stated that according to "a prominent senior member of Hamas's Political Committee" Hamas is prepared to explicitly recognize the state of Israel. "Members of Hamas's political directorate do not preclude significant changes over time in their policies toward Israel and in their founding charter, including recognition of Israel, and even mutual minor border adjustments. Such changes depend on Israel's recognition of Palestinian rights. Hamas will settle for nothing less than full reciprocity." These sentiments "are in striking contrast to the odiousness of Hamas's founding charter," said Siegman.
In May 2006, Hamas leaders threatened a new Intifada, as well as to decapitate anyone who tried to bring down their cabinet.
Cabinet formation
Palestinian Prime Minister
Ahmed Qurei
Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointe ...
and his cabinet resigned, leaving Hamas to form a new government, which was completely formed on March 20. On February 19, Hamas had chosen
Ismail Haniya
Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh; sometimes transliterated as Haniya, Haniyah, or Hanieh (born 29 January 1962) is a senior political leader of Hamas and formerly one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Haniy ...
as
Prime minister of the PA
The prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority was the position of the official head of government of the Palestinian Authority government, which operated between 2003 and January 2013, when it was officially transformed into the State ...
, and on the same day the government of Israel decided counter-measures against the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (suspension of $55 million transfer of tax-receipts). After the victory, Israeli human rights organizations called on Hamas to stop its terror campaign against civilians and to eschew violence as a tool to achieve a political solution.
On March 20, 2006, Hamas unveiled its full cabinet list, placing loyal members in charge of all key ministries; of the 24 ministers appointed, the majority were Hamas (the others were independent or
technocrats
Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
).
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
' Fatah refused to join the Hamas government. The position of foreign minister was given to
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar ( ar, محمود الزهار ') (born 6 May 1945) is a Palestinian politician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar served as foreign minister in the Hamas-dominated Pa ...
, a Gazan leader and target of previous targeted killing attempts by Israel.
Saeed Seyam, another Hamas leader, was appointed interior minister, in charge of multiple security agencies. Hamas member and engineer
Ala el-Deen Al-Araj was appointed economics minister. The position of finance minister was given to
Omar Abdel-Razeq, Hamas election official and economics professor from the West Bank.
In his interview to ''The Sunday Telegraph'', the newly appointed chief of the Palestinian security services
Jamal Abu Samhadana stated: "We have only one enemy. They are Jews. We have no other enemy. I will continue to carry the rifle and pull the trigger whenever required to defend my people." However, president Mahmoud Abbas retained official control over the Palestinian security services.
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas
After the formation of the Hamas cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions progressively rose in the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas militants. In May 2006, ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' reported that Israeli security sources claimed they had uncovered a Hamas plot to assassinate president Mahmoud Abbas. This was officially denied by a Hamas spokesman, while Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, described the report as "totally untrue". On May 8, three Palestinians were killed and 10 wounded in clashes in southern Gaza, near
Khan Yunis
Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...
, between rival Hamas and Fatah gunmen. On May 6 and 7, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza and the West Bank demanding payment of their wages. Although this inter-Palestinian incident had been one of the most serious since January 2006, tension had been slowly risen with the "economic squeeze" on the PA.
Twelve people were killed during the first days of October 2006 in armed clashes between Fatah, and the Hamas Interior ministry police. These clashes started when the interior ministry militia forcibly dispersed a gathering of Policemen demonstrating against unpaid wages. The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa brigades have threatened to kill Hamas leaders including Khaled Meshal, Saeed Seyam and Youssef al-Zahar. The Al-Aqsa brigade kidnapped but then released a senior official in the Finance ministry.
Agreement and preservation of national unity
On June 27, Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on the
prisoners' document The Prisoners' Document, officially the National Conciliation Document was written in May 2006 by Palestinian prisoners, who were being held in an Israeli jail. The five prisoners who took part in writing the Document were respectively affiliated wi ...
, which included the forming of a national unity government.
In February 2007
Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
on a signed by
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
on behalf of Fatah and
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the
"Prisoners' Document") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit.
In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a Palestinian March 2007 National Unity Government, national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority, in at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from the national unity government after forcing out Fatah.
2006 Gaza–Israel conflict
On June 9, during or shortly after an Israeli operation, Gaza beach blast, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians.
It was initially assumed that Israeli shellings were responsible for the killings, although Israeli government officials later denied this.
Prompted by the recent events Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, and took responsibility for the ongoing Qassam rocket attacks being launched from Gaza into Israel.
On June 24, Israeli operatives apprehended Osama and Mustafa Muamar in the Gaza Strip, alleged by Israel to be Hamas members. On June 25, a Hamas attack in Israel resulted in the deaths of two Israeli soldiers and the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. Israel then launched Operation Summer Rains on June 28 to recover the captured soldier. The ongoing operation initially consisted of heavy bombardment of bridges, roads, and the only power station in Gaza. Several Palestinian Authority, PA facilities were also bombed, such as the Palestinian Interior Ministry and the office of the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Prime Minister
Ismail Haniya
Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh; sometimes transliterated as Haniya, Haniyah, or Hanieh (born 29 January 1962) is a senior political leader of Hamas and formerly one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Haniy ...
.
On June 29, Israel captured 64 Hamas officials. Amongst them were eight
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, cabinet ministers and up to twenty members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as well as heads of regional councils, and the mayor of
Qalqilyah
Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41,73 ...
and his deputy. At least a third of the Hamas cabinet was captured and held by Israel.
On August 6 Israeli forces detained the Hamas' Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, at his home in the West Bank.
In November 2006, a 64-year-old woman executed a suicide bombing mission, killing herself and slightly injuring 2 Israeli soldiers. Hamas claimed responsibility and its spokesman, Abu Obaida (Hamas), Abu Obeida, declared that "both Palestinian men and women are committed to battling the Israelis".
2007 – End-of-truce with Israel
On April 24, 2007, "six rockets were launched from Gaza [by Hamas], two of which landed in Israel". According to Bloomberg news, Palestinians said the rockets were in response to Israeli military action over the previous weekend which had "killed as many as eight people in the West Bank, where there is no cease-fire, and one in Gaza." Most of the dead were militants, but Palestinians said at least two civilians, including a 17-year-old girl, were killed. Hamas announced that it considered the truce to be over.
The rocket attack, which came on Israel's 59th Independence Day, caused no damage or injury. However, it marked the first time Hamas openly acknowledged firing shells toward Israel since agreeing to a cease-fire along the Gaza-Israel border in November.
Abu Ubeida, a spokesman for Hamas' armed wing, told foreign journalists that "there is no truce between us and the occupation, the occupation destroyed the truce from the moment it started, we did not trust the intentions of the occupation from the beginning." Abu Ubeida told the Voice of Palestine radio station that "the cease-fire has been over for a long time, and Israel is responsible for that."
[Hamas claims end to truce, fires rockets at Israel]
''USA Today'' 2007-04-24 "This is a message to the Zionist enemy that our strikes will continue," Abu Obeida said of the rocket fire. "We are ready to kidnap more and more, and kill more and more of your soldiers."
Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit's kidnappers demand the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including veterans and those involved in killing or wounding Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on April 23, 2007, that freeing soldiers is important to the government, but that it would not repeat "mistakes made in the past" by releasing violent prisoners who then carried out more attacks against Israelis. But Olmert said there would be "no escape in the end from making a difficult decision" on trading prisoners for the captured Israeli troops.
Hamas militants stated on April 24, 2007, that they had launched 40 rockets and 70 mortar shells. The Israeli military said it could confirm six rockets and eight mortars. Two of the rockets fell in Israel, north of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said–they added that the attack was a diversion for an attempt by Hamas gunmen to kidnap an IDF soldier.
Hamas-Fatah conflict
After the formation of the Hamas-led cabinet on March 20, 2006, tensions between Fatah and Hamas militants progressively rose in the Gaza strip, leading to demonstrations, violence, and repeated attempts at a truce. Israeli intelligence warned Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas had planned to kill him at his office in Gaza. According to a Palestinian source close to Abbas, Hamas considers President Abbas to be a barrier to its complete control over Palestine and decided to kill him. In a statement to Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal accused Abbas of being party to besieging and isolating the Hamas-led government.
On June 9, 2006, during an Israeli artillery operation, Gaza beach blast, an explosion occurred on a busy Gaza beach, killing eight Palestinian civilians. It was assumed that Israeli shellings were responsible for the killings, but Israeli government officials denied this. Hamas formally withdrew from its 16-month ceasefire on June 10, taking responsibility for the subsequent Qassam rocket attacks launched from Gaza into Israel.
![Gilad Shalit on Hamas poster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Gilad_Shalit_on_Hamas_poster.jpg)
On June 29, following a joint incursion by Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and corporal Gilad Shalit was captured, Israel captured 64 Hamas officials. Among them were 8
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, cabinet ministers and up to 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as well as heads of regional councils, and the mayor of
Qalqilyah
Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41,73 ...
and his deputy. At least a third of the Hamas cabinet was captured and held by Israel. On August 6 Israeli forces detained the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hamas member Aziz Dweik, at his home in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.
These arrests, along with other events, including the subsequent arrest of the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, effectively prevented the Hamas-dominated legislature that resulted from the preceding elections from functioning during most of its term.
In February 2007, Saudi-sponsored negotiations in Mecca produced
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
on a signed by
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
on behalf of Fatah and
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
on behalf of Hamas. The new government was called on to achieve Palestinian national goals as approved by the Palestine National Council, the clauses of the Basic Law and the National Reconciliation Document (the "Prisoners' Document") as well as the decisions of the Arab summit.
In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a Palestinian March 2007 National Unity Government, national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority, in at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. In June that year, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from the national unity government after forcing out Fatah.
In June 2007, renewed fighting broke out between Hamas and Fatah. In the course of the June 2007 Battle of Gaza, Hamas exploited the near total collapse of Palestinian Authority forces in Gaza, to take over
[The "Gaza War"](_blank)
. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2010-08-21. control of Gaza, ousting Fatah officials. President Mahmoud Abbas then dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government. and outlawed the Hamas militia.
Immediately upon the conclusion of the Battle of Gaza, Israel imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, and Hamas repeatedly launched rocket attacks upon areas of Israel near its border with Gaza because of the blockade.
At least 600 Palestinians died in fighting between Hamas and Fatah. Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based group, accused both sides in the conflict of torture and war crimes.
Gaza War
On June 17, 2008, Egyptian mediators announced that an informal truce had been agreed to between Hamas and Israel. Hamas agreed to cease rocket attacks on Israel, while Israel agreed to allow limited commercial shipping across its border with Gaza, barring any breakdown of the tentative peace deal; Hamas also hinted that it would discuss the release of Gilad Shalit. Israeli sources state that Hamas also committed itself to enforce the ceasefire on the other Palestinian organizations.
[Six Months of the Lull Arrangement Intelligence Report (PDF)]
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC) December 31, 2008
While Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire, the lull was sporadically violated by other groups, sometimes in defiance of Hamas.
''Haaretz''. Avi Isacharoff and Yuval Azoulay. June 29, 2008[Hamas arrests militants after rocket fire](_blank)
Reuters. July 10, 2008 For example, on June 24
Islamic Jihad launched rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot; Israel called the attack a grave violation of the informal truce, and closed its border crossings with Gaza.
On November 4, 2008, Israeli forces, stating they were attempting to stop construction of a tunnel, killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas responded with increased rocket attacks, a total of 190 rockets in November according to Israel's military, up from two in each of the preceding months.
With the six-month truce officially expired on December 19, Hamas launched 50 to more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel over the next three days, though no Israelis were injured.
On December 21, Hamas said it was ready to stop the attacks and renew the truce if Israel stopped its "aggression" in Gaza and opened up its border crossings.
The previous six weeks had seen a "dramatic increase" in attacks from Hamas.
On December 27 and 28, the Operation Cast Lead attack on Gaza was launched, killing over 280 and injuring 600 in its first two days, according to Palestinian officials.
[Civilian death toll rises after second day of air strikes](_blank)
The Guardian (UK), December 29, 2008 Most were Hamas police and security officers, though many civilians also died.
According to Israel, militant training camps, rocket-manufacturing facilities and weapons warehouses that had been pre-identified were hit, and later they attacked rocket and mortar squads who fired around 180 rockets and mortars at Israeli communities.
[Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill more than 200](_blank)
NBC News, December 28, 2008 Chief of Gaza police force Tawfiq Jabber, head of the General Security Service Salah Abu Shrakh, senior religious authority and security officer Nizar Rayyan, and Interior Minister Said Seyam were among those killed during the fighting. Although Israel sent out thousands of cell-phone messages urging residents of Gaza to leave houses where weapons may be stored, in an attempt to minimise civilian casualties,
some residents complained there was nowhere to go because many neighborhoods had received the same message.
Israeli bombs landed close to civilian structures such as schools. Israel said they had only targeted sites from which they had been attacked, and some local civilians also said that there had been attacks against Israel from just outside the school.
Some alleged that Israel was deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians.
Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 17, 2009. Hamas responded the following day by announcing a one-week ceasefire to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Between 1,166 and 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict.
After the Gaza War
On August 16, 2009, Hamas leader
Khaled Mashaal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
stated that the organization was ready to open dialogue with the Obama administration because its policies were much better than those of former US president George W. Bush: "As long as there's a new language, we welcome it, but we want to see not only a change of language, but also a change of policies on the ground. We have said that we are prepared to cooperate with the US or any other international party that would enable the Palestinians to get rid of occupation." Despite this, an August 30, 2009, speech during a visit to Jordan in which Mashaal expressed support for the Palestinian right of return was interpreted by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a sign that "Hamas has now clearly opted out of diplomacy."
[Pollock, David]
"Rejectionists Readying to Counter U.S. Peace Push."
''Washington Institute for Near East Policy''. September 1, 2009. However, in a rare and widely cited video interview with Charlie Rose on May 28, 2010, Mashaal expressed his view that a right of return (to a Palestinian state outside Israel's 1967 boundaries) was consistent with diplomacy toward a two-state solution, saying that "if Israel withdraws to the borders of 1967, it doesn't mean that it gives us back all the land of the Palestinians. But we do consider this as an acceptable solution to have a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967. Hamas accepts a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with its capital Jerusalem and with the right of return. This stand by Hamas is announced, practiced, and it signed an agreement with Fatah, which is the national compact document."
The August 2, 2010 Rocket attacks on Eilat and Aqaba, rocket attack on Eilat and Aqaba sparked rage in Egypt at Hamas and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. The Egyptian press stated that the firing of the rockets from Egyptian territory by Hamas or by organizations cooperating with it constituted the crossing of a red line. The Egyptian position was that Iran is using Hamas as a local proxy to escalate violence in the Middle East and to sabotage the Palestinian reconciliation efforts, as well as efforts to renew Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
In February 2010, Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank arrested a Hamas cell preparing to test-fire a Qassam rocket near Ramallah and handed the rocket over to Israel. Hamas later stated that "Having a Qassam rocket in the West Bank is a demand that must be achieved".
[Palestinians hand Israel Qassam rocket seized in West Bank]
, ''Haaretz'' 22-02-2010
On June 20, 2010, senior Hamas official Mahmoud a-Zahar called on Palestinian residents of the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
to fire rockets into Israel.
Islamization of the Gaza Strip (2007–present)
Since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, some of its members have attempted to impose Islamic dress or the Hijab head covering on women.
[Hamas Fights Over Gaza’s Islamist Identity](_blank)
''New York Times'', September 5, 2009[ Xinhua, 2010-01-03] Also, the government's "Islamic Endowment Ministry" has deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the dangers of immodest dress, card playing and dating.
[Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push](_blank)
By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, November 30, 2009 However, there are no government laws imposing dress and other moral standards, and the Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students.
There has also been successful resistance to attempts by local Hamas officials to impose Islamic dress on women.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Hamas-controlled government of Gaza stepped up its efforts to "Islamize" Gaza in 2010, efforts that included, according to the organization, the "repression of civil society" and "severe violations of personal freedom."
[ "In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions,"]
Bill Van Esveld, Bill Van Esveld is a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, June 27, 2010, ''Los Angeles Times''.
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
researcher Dr. Khaled Al-Hroub has criticized what he called the "Taliban-like steps" Hamas has taken. He wrote, "The Islamization that has been forced upon the Gaza Strip–the suppression of social, cultural, and press freedoms that do not suit Hamas's view[s]–is an egregious deed that must be opposed. It is the reenactment, under a religious guise, of the experience of [other] totalitarian regimes and dictatorships.
Hamas officials denied having any plans to impose Islamic law, one legislator stating that "What you are seeing are incidents, not policy," and that Islamic law is the desired standard "but we believe in persuasion."
The Hamas education ministry reversed one effort to impose Islamic dress on students.
2011
In 2011, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden by American forces, praising bin Laden as a "martyr" and an "Arab holy warrior".
2017
Hamas released A Document of General Principles and Policies, often described as its new or revised 1988 Hamas charter, charter.
In December 2017, Hamas' leader stated that U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was a "Declaration of War" and called for an uprising against the Jewish State.
Allegations of Israeli support for Hamas
On Jan. 24, 2009, Andrew Higgins (disambiguation), Andrew Higgins wrote in the Wall Street Journal that Israel had "Helped to Spawn Hamas". He quoted Avner Cohen, a Tunisian-born Jew who worked for more than two decades for the Israeli government's religious affairs department in Gaza, as saying "Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel's creation" and that Israel had "encouraged them as a counterweight to ... Palestine Liberation Organization and its dominant faction, Yasser Arafat's
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
. "
On October 8, 2023, Tal Schneider claimed in an op-ed article in The Times of Israel that Netanyahu's policy for years had been to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by treating Hamas as a partner at the expense of
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
, the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, and its West Bank government, resulting in "wounds that would take Israel years to heal from". For years, she wrote, Netanyahu divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, bringing Abbas to his knees while propping up Hamas. One method she described was collaborating with Hamas to increase the number of Israeli work permits granted to Gazan laborers, from approximately 2,000-3,000 work permits in 2021 to 20,000 after Netanyahu's return to power in 2023. She also wrote that "While Netanyahu does not make these kind of statements publicly or officially, his words are in line with the policy that he implemented."
On October 9, 2023, an article was written by Haaretz that mentioned Netanyahu treated Hamas as a partner by covertly funding and supporting them to make a two-state solution impossible. The article also mentioned that in March 2019, he told his colleagues of the Likud Party,
On December 10, 2023, the ''New York Times'' reported that Qatari officials had delivered millions of dollars per month in cash to Gaza, "billions of dollars over roughly a decade" to help prop up the Hamas government there. Dan Margalit (journalist), Dan Margalit, an Israeli journalist, stated in an interview that "Mr. Netanyahu told him that having two strong rivals, including Hamas, would lessen pressure on him to negotiate toward a Palestinian state". Just weeks before October 7, the head of
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
told Qatari officials that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel not only tolerated those payments, he had encouraged them."
On January 19, 2024, Reuters reported that Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, EU foreign policy chief, said while receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Valladolid that "Israel had financed the creation of Palestinian militant group Hamas, publicly contradicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has denied such allegations." and that "Borrell added the only peaceful solution included the creation of a Palestinian state.
'We only believe a two-state solution imposed from the outside would bring peace even though Israel insists on the negative,' he said."
Borrell also described Israel as having "created Hamas", but immediately continued saying that "yes, Hamas was financed by Israel to weaken the
Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, ".
Brief timeline
* 1984 Arrest of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, sentenced to 12 years of prison after the discovery of an arms cache. Yassin is freed the next year.
* 1987 Creation of Hamas by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
* 1987–1993
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
.
* 1988 wikisource:Hamas Covenant, Hamas Covenant.
* 1989 Israel outlaws Hamas and imprisons Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
* 1991 Gulf War.
* 1992 Creation of the military branch Izz ad-Din al-Qassam.
* 1993
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; .
* April 1993. First Hamas suicide bombing at Mehola Junction.
* 1996 Palestinian legislative and presidential election. Hamas boycotts them, allowing
Fatah
Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
, led by Yasser Arafat, a large victory.
* January 5, 1996. Targeted killing of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas bomb maker.
* February–March 1996. 47 Israelis killed in three different bombings.
* October 1997. Freed by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
for "humanitarian reasons" (actually, due to the botched killing attempt on
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
, on September 25, 1997, by the
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
in Jordan, a deal was brokered by Bill Clinton between
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
) Sheikh Yassin is acclaimed as a hero on his return to Gaza.
* March 1998 – Death of Mohiyedine Sharif, master bombmaker
* September 2000. Beginning of Al-Aqsa Intifada.
* July 2002. Killing of Salah Shahade, leader of the Ezzedeen-al-qassam brigades.
* March 8, 2003, Israel kills Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, a leader of the Hamas's military wing. 3 other men are also killed
* January 6, 2004. 10-year truce (
hudna
A ''hudna'' (from the Arabic meaning "calm" or "quiet") is a truce or armistice. It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire". In his medieval dictionary of classical Arabic, the ''Lisan al-Arab'', Ibn Manzur defined it as:
: "''hadana'': he gre ...
) offered by senior Hamas official Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in exchange of Israel's complete withdrawal to the 1967 borders.
* March 22, 2004, killing of Sheikh Yassin. Yassin, then an old man restricted to a wheel-chair due to his lifelong paralysis was killed in an Israeli missile strike. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi replaced him as the leader of Hamas. On March 28, Rantissi stated in a speech given at The Islamic University in Gaza that "America declared war against God. Ariel Sharon, Sharon declared war against God, and God declared war against America, Bush and Sharon".
* April 17, 2004, killing of
Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi
Abdel Aziz Ali Abdul Majid al-Rantisi ( ar, عبد العزيز علي عبد المجيد الحفيظ الرنتيسي; 23 October 1947 – 17 April 2004), nicknamed the "Lion of Palestine" was the co-founder of Palestinian Sunni-Islamic org ...
. Rantissi was also killed in an air strike by the Israeli Air Force, five hours after a fatal suicide bombing by Hamas.
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas.
After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...
, the leader of Hamas in Syria, said Hamas should not disclose the name of its next leader in Gaza.
* April 18, 2004, Hamas secretly selected a new leader in the Gaza Strip, fearing he would be killed if his identity were made public. However, it was speculated that the new leader is
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar ( ar, محمود الزهار ') (born 6 May 1945) is a Palestinian politician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar served as foreign minister in the Hamas-dominated Pa ...
; the second-in-command,
Ismail Haniya
Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh; sometimes transliterated as Haniya, Haniyah, or Hanieh (born 29 January 1962) is a senior political leader of Hamas and formerly one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Haniy ...
; and third-in-command, Said Seyam.
* September 2004. Israeli army Ramatkal, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon said that Israel would "deal with [...] those who support terrorism", including those in "terror command posts in Damascus".
* September 26, 2004. Killing of Izz El-Deen Sheikh Khalil. Sheikh Khalil was killed by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria. Khalil was described variously as "mid-level", "senior", a "distinguished member", and believed to be in charge of the group's military wing outside the Palestinian territories. Although the Israeli government offered no official confirmation, anonymous Israeli officials acknowledged responsibility for the attack. In a statement released in Gaza, Hamas threatened to target Israelis abroad in retaliation.
* October 2004. Killing of Adnan al-Ghoul, assistant of Mohammed Deif, the leader of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades.
* November 11, 2004. Death of Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and president of the Palestinian National Authority.
* 2005 Palestinian presidential election, January 2005 Palestinian presidential election. Hamas boycotts them. PLO chairman
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
elected to replace Yasser Arafat.
* 2005 Palestinian municipal election, Palestinian municipal elections, January–May 2005. Relative success of Hamas, which took control of
Beit Lahia
Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya ( ar, بيت لاهيا) is a city in the Gaza Strip north of Jabalia, near Beit Hanoun and the 1949 Armistice Line with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 59 ...
in northern Gaza,
Qalqilyah
Qalqilya or Qalqiliya ( ar, قلقيلية, Qalqīlyaḧ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank which serves as the administrative center of the Qalqilya Governorate of the State of Palestine. In the 2007 census, the city had a population of 41,73 ...
in the West Bank and
Rafah
Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...
.
* March 2005. Hamas proclaims tahdiyah, a period of calm.
* January 25, 2006. Victory of the Hamas at the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, legislative election, which took 74 seats of the 132 seats.
* March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a national unity government headed by Ismail Haniya.
* June 2007. Hamas begins Battle for Gaza (2007), a takeover of Gaza, ending the coalition with Fatah.
See also
* Outline of the Israel–Hamas war
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Refend
History of Hamas,
History of the Muslim Brotherhood, *
History of militant organizations
History of Palestine (region)