Hamas

Hamas occupies a central place in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as both a terrorist organization and the de facto governing authority that controlled the Gaza Strip from 2007. Its campaign against Israel has included suicide bombings, rocket attacks, tunnel infiltrations, kidnappings, and the mass atrocities of October 7, 2023. Hamas has also operated social, religious, educational, and medical institutions that supported its political influence in Gaza.[8][1]

The movement's ideology combines Palestinian nationalism with Islamic fundamentalism and armed struggle.[9][5] Its 1988 covenant presented the conflict as religious, rejected territorial compromise and international peace conferences, and identified jihad as the means of resolving the Palestinian question.[3][9]

Hamas's structure includes political institutions, a social-service network, security bodies, and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, its military arm. The Anti-Defamation League argues that the movement's political, social, and military activities cannot be meaningfully separated, while the Congressional Research Service describes the distribution of authority within Hamas as opaque and not independently verifiable in all respects.[1][5]

The roots of Hamas extend to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which arose in the 1920s. A 1992 Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs account traces the consolidation of a Palestinian Brotherhood movement to the period from 1967 to 1977 under the influence of related organizations in Jordan and Egypt.[8][10] In 1978, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin legally registered an Islamic Association in Israel named Al-Mujamma Al Islami. It initially operated primarily as a social-welfare agency serving Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and exerted influence through mosques, kindergartens, educational institutions, and clinics.[8][9]

Yassin created Hamas's first military arm in Gaza in 1982, but Israeli authorities discovered its weapons activity and imprisoned him in 1984.[8] He was released in a prisoner exchange in 1985, and in 1986 a second security arm, called Al-Majd, was established to monitor alleged collaborators and Palestinians considered insufficiently observant of Islamic norms.[8][10]

Hamas emerged as a distinct organization at the start of the First Intifada. Palestinian Islamists led by Yassin supplemented the Muslim Brotherhood's religious outreach with Palestinian nationalism, defined the elimination of Israel and establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state as primary objectives, and adopted violence as the principal means of pursuing them.[9] The Center for Israel Education identifies December 1987 as Hamas's founding date.[11] A contemporary Jerusalem Center account states that by early 1988 Hamas was operating as the Muslim Brotherhood's military arm in the territories.[10]

On August 18, 1988, Hamas issued its founding covenant, a 36-article document edited and approved by Ahmed Yassin.[3][4] Article Two identified Hamas as one of the Muslim Brotherhood's wings in Palestine, and Article Eight gave the movement's slogan: "Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes."[3] Article Thirteen stated: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad," and rejected initiatives and international conferences as contrary to Hamas's principles.[3]

The covenant defined Palestine as an Islamic waqf, or religious endowment, that could not be relinquished by any Palestinian, Arab, or other political authority.[3][4] It described the movement's goal as raising "the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine" and rejected a secular Palestinian state.[3] Article Twenty-Two advanced conspiratorial claims that Jews controlled media, caused world wars, and dominated imperialist countries, while Article Twenty-Eight stated that "Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people."[3] The preamble declared that "Israel will continue to exist until Islam obliterates it," and Article Seven reproduced a passage calling for Muslims to kill Jews on the Day of Judgment.[12] These passages made the covenant explicitly antisemitic; the cited international-law analysis characterized them as evidence of genocidal intent.[4][12]

Hamas's ideology combines Palestinian nationalism with Islamic fundamentalism and presents armed struggle as both a religious obligation and a national necessity.[9][5] Its founding covenant framed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a religious struggle, rejected the legitimacy of Israel, and identified jihad as the indispensable means of resolving the Palestinian cause.[3][9]

In May 2017, Hamas unveiled a Document of General Principles and Policies in Doha through Political Bureau chief Khaled Mashal.[13] The document described Hamas as "a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement" and stated that its conflict was with the "Zionist project" rather than Jews because of their religion. It also rejected persecution on nationalist, religious, or sectarian grounds.[14] The document described a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of June 4, 1967 as "a formula of national consensus."[14][15]

At the same time, the document refused to recognize the legitimacy of the "Zionist entity," defined Palestine as extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, and called armed resistance the strategic choice for protecting Palestinian principles and rights.[14][7] Israel and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority rejected the document.[13] The Congressional Research Service noted that observers differed over the extent of Hamas's pragmatism and that the document did not recognize Israel.[15] The 2017 text did not state that it canceled or superseded the 1988 covenant.[14]

The Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs characterizes Hamas's ideology as a synthesis of pan-Arab Islamic religious ideals, Palestinian nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and armed struggle. Its account says Hamas presents the conflict as religious, opposes territorial compromise and international peace conferences, and identifies jihad as the means of resolving the Palestinian question.[10]

The Congressional Research Service describes Hamas's leadership structure as opaque and says open-source reporting about it cannot always be independently verified. It identifies a Shura Council as providing overall policy guidance and describes representation from Gaza, the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — prisoners held in Israel, and the diaspora.[5] In the period covered by the cited sources, Ismail Haniyeh headed the political bureau, Yahya Sinwar led Hamas in Gaza, and Muhammad Deif commanded the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.[16][5]

The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are Hamas's military arm and were responsible for most of the organization's serious attacks from January 1, 1992, according to the Jewish Virtual Library account.[8] Hamas's capabilities developed from rudimentary guerrilla and suicide operations to rockets, mortars, drones, anti-tank guided missiles, and an extensive tunnel network used to protect and transport personnel and weapons.[16] One cross-border tunnel discovered by Israel in April 2016 was approximately 110 to 130 feet underground and contained electricity, running water, and communication lines.[8]

A 1992 Jerusalem Center account described Hamas's early security section, Al-Majd, as monitoring Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel and those accused of violating Islamic norms. It also described information, uprising, regional, and central coordinating sections responsible for leaflets, demonstrations, strikes, intelligence, and operational planning.[10] Sources disagree about the precise hierarchy between Hamas's political and military institutions. The Jewish Virtual Library described the military leadership as formally subordinate to the political leadership, while the Congressional Research Service said control over strategy, policy, security, and finances was unclear.[8][5]

Iran has been a principal source of Hamas's external support. The World Jewish Congress reported Iranian funding, weapons, and training, including a 1992 pledge of $30 million in annual funding and later assistance for acquiring and developing rockets.[17] The Congressional Research Service reports that Hamas has also raised funds in Gulf countries and received donations from Palestinian and other expatriates and from its own charity organizations.[5] A 2014 U.S. Treasury Department statement said Qatar "has for many years openly financed Hamas," while Qatari officials denied financially supporting Hamas and said their policy was to support the Palestinian people.[5]

Israeli government material estimated that Hamas had access to tens of millions of dollars annually, primarily from Iran, Islamic foundations and institutions in the Persian Gulf, and other sources.[9] During the tenure of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi from 2012 to 2013, described by the cited tunnel analysis as a "golden age" for Hamas, missiles, ammunition, and materials for missile-manufacturing plants moved through tunnels into Gaza. The same source reported economic assistance from European countries, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.[18]

Hamas positioned itself as an alternative to the secular Fatah movement after the Palestine Liberation Organization entered a peace process with Israel and created the Palestinian Authority. It used terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets to distinguish itself from Fatah while providing social services and building political and military infrastructure.[19]

Following Yasser Arafat's death in 2004, Hamas decided to participate directly in electoral politics.[19] On January 25, 2006, a few months after Israel's military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Hamas defeated Fatah in Palestinian Legislative Council elections, winning 74 of the 132 seats while Fatah won 45.[9][1] Ismail Haniyeh subsequently became prime minister of a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government, while Mahmoud Abbas remained president.[1] These were the last Palestinian Authority elections held during the period covered by the sources.[5][19]

The United States, Israel, and the Quartet conditioned dealings with the Hamas-led government on renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel, acceptance of previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, and disarmament of terrorist organizations.[20] Western actors also restructured assistance to prevent ministries controlled by Hamas from accessing it.[19] Hamas did not accept the international conditions.[1]

Factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah escalated in 2007. On June 14, after six days of intense infighting, Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip and ousted the Palestinian Authority's Fatah faction.[1][20] The cited international-law paper reported that Hamas forces threw rival Palestinian Authority gunmen from rooftops.[12] Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency, dissolved the unity government, dismissed Haniyeh, and appointed Salam Fayyad prime minister. Hamas rejected the decrees and maintained that Haniyeh remained the legitimate head of government.[20] The result was a divided Palestinian political system, with Hamas governing Gaza and the Palestinian Authority administering parts of the West Bank.[1][5]

Hamas's campaign of terrorism against Israel has included suicide bombings, rocket barrages, tunnel infiltrations, and kidnappings. From September 2000 through March 2004, Hamas perpetrated 425 terrorist attacks, killing 377 Israelis and wounding 2,076 civilians and soldiers.[12] Hamas also took a leading role in suicide bombings against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005.[5]

A suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv discotheque on June 1, 2001 killed 21 people and wounded 120. On March 27, 2002, the Passover Seder massacre at a Netanya hotel killed 30 people and wounded 140.[12] Both attacks struck civilian gatherings.

According to HonestReporting, Hamas launched its first rocket from Gaza into Israel on April 16, 2001.[21] After Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005, Palestinian groups including Hamas launched more than 6,000 mortar and rocket attacks on Israel. The cited international-law source said that, with only a handful of possible exceptions, the attacks struck civilian targets.[12] A ceasefire from June 19 to December 18, 2008 greatly reduced but did not eliminate the attacks; several dozen Qassam rocket and mortar strikes occurred during the period.[12]

Four major rounds of conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorists occurred in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, and 2021.[5] In 2014, Hamas fired 3,356 rockets at Israel. Israeli forces reported targeting 4,762 terror sites and destroying 32 Hamas attack tunnels.[8] Hamas had previously used tunnels during the Second Intifada to place explosive charges beside Israeli positions along the Philadelphi Route and later developed attack tunnels from Gaza into Israel and underground missile launchers concealed in civilian population centers.[18]

On June 25, 2006, a joint Hamas and Jaish al-Islam unit infiltrated from Gaza through a tunnel whose opening was approximately 100 meters inside Israeli territory near the Kerem Shalom crossing. The attackers killed an officer and a soldier and abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.[18] Since 2000, hundreds of tunnels had also been dug along Gaza's border with Egypt to transport ammunition, missiles, and construction materials. The cited tunnel analysis said the Hamas government controlled the imports, taxed transported goods, and used the proceeds to accelerate its military buildup.[18]

A 2008 international-law paper reported that Hamas seized fourteen Red Crescent trucks carrying humanitarian aid on February 7, 2008, asserting control over aid distribution and transferring the food and medical supplies to Hamas-run ministries. The same paper cited eyewitness reports that Hamas militiamen attacked or confiscated fuel trucks on several occasions.[12]

On October 7, 2023, Hamas led a surprise assault from Gaza into southern Israel that was the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust.[22][6] The assault began at 6:00 a.m. with attacks by land, sea, and air, accompanied by more than 4,300 rockets by the end of the day. Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka subsequently said the attack had been planned for two years.[23]

The Jewish Virtual Library account describes an initial wave of approximately 1,200 Hamas commandos, followed by about 2,000 additional fighters, including members of allied terrorist groups, and then a later civilian wave.[23] Attackers infiltrated more than 20 Israeli communities and struck the Nova music festival, where they slaughtered concertgoers gathered for an outdoor event.[23][7] The atrocities included killing, mutilating, raping, and burning victims.[15] The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum described the attack as the single deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust and reported that more than 1,200 men, women, and children were murdered, many victims were raped, and more than 250 people were taken hostage.[6]

Casualty figures vary by reporting date and methodology. The Center for Israel Education records at least 1,139 people killed — 695 Israeli civilians, 373 soldiers and police, and 71 foreign nationals — along with 251 people abducted and 3,400 wounded.[11] The Anti-Defamation League reports at least 1,200 people killed, mostly civilians, and 251 hostages.[22] The U.S. State Department reported an estimated 1,200 people killed and 253 Israeli and foreign citizens taken hostage.[7] A Jewish Policy Research publication reported approximately 1,200 murdered, 4,834 wounded, and 240 taken hostage.[19] Several of these sources characterize the attack as the deadliest assault on Jewish people since the Holocaust.[22][19]

Israel declared war on Hamas on October 8, 2023, with stated objectives of destroying Hamas's military and governing capabilities, returning the hostages, and preventing future attacks from Gaza.[7] The State Department reported that Israel's military campaign had disrupted much of Hamas's control of Gaza by the end of 2023, although pockets remained in southern Gaza.[7]

In July 2024, an Israeli strike reportedly killed military commander Muhammad Deif in Gaza. Politburo chairman Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran that month in an operation that may have involved Israel. Israeli soldiers killed Yahya Sinwar, who had reportedly masterminded the October 7 assault with Deif and served as Hamas's key wartime decision-maker, in October 2024.[16] The Congressional Research Service also cited analysis indicating that Israel had dismantled most Hamas battalions and killed thousands of its fighters. A September 2024 assessment by Israel's defense minister characterized Hamas as no longer a conventional military formation, although it continued guerrilla warfare.[16]

At the time of a 2025 Jewish Policy Research report, 48 Israeli hostages remained held by Hamas in Gaza, of whom only 20 were still believed to be alive.[15]

The United States began subjecting Hamas to financial sanctions in 1995 and designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997. Hamas is also subject to U.S. sanctions as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under Executive Order 13224.[16] In April 2024, Congress enacted the Hamas and Other Palestinian Terrorist Groups International Financing Prevention Act, requiring sanctions against foreign states or persons providing specified forms of support to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or related organizations.[16]

Israel designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1989, Canada followed in 2002, and an Israeli government report dates the European Union designation to 2014.[2] The Anti-Defamation League also identifies designations by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan.[1] These are legal determinations by the governments and institutions concerned, based on Hamas's attacks and other activities.

Hamas rejects those characterizations. Its 2017 Document of General Principles described armed resistance as a legitimate right and duty while maintaining that armed resistance was the strategic choice for pursuing its objectives.[14]

Hamas exercised de facto governing authority over the Gaza Strip after its violent seizure of power in June 2007.[8][5] It maintained welfare, religious, and educational infrastructure while also supporting terrorist operations.[9] This combination of social provision, political control, and terrorism shaped Hamas's authority in Gaza.

Hamas controlled administrative and security institutions and taxed goods imported through tunnels from Egypt. The cited tunnel analysis says the resulting profits helped fund its military buildup.[18] A 2008 international-law paper reported that Hamas asserted authority over aid distribution, seized fourteen Red Crescent trucks, and confiscated fuel shipments on several occasions.[12]

The State Department reported that Hamas maintained safe haven in Gaza for itself and other terrorist organizations, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, before October 7, 2023.[7] The cited tunnel analysis also described Hamas missile launchers concealed underground in civilian population centers, complicating Israeli efforts to target them without harming civilians.[18] Hamas and Fatah held intermittent reconciliation talks from 2008 onward without reaching a sustainable agreement, leaving the Palestinian political system divided between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the Palestinian Authority's administration in Judea and Samaria.[21]

Sources date Hamas's formation somewhat differently. The Center for Israel Education identifies December 1987, while other accounts emphasize the 1978 registration of Al-Mujamma Al Islami, the 1982 creation of a military arm, or the August 1988 publication of the covenant.[8][11] The evidence supports distinguishing Hamas's organizational emergence in late 1987 from the earlier institutional foundations on which it was built and the later publication of its founding document.

October 7 casualty and hostage totals also varied as identification and verification proceeded. Later sources generally report approximately 1,200 people killed and 251 hostages, while the Center for Israel Education gives a more specific total of at least 1,139 killed and the State Department reported 253 hostages.[11][7] An early 2024 academic abstract retained the preliminary figure of more than 1,400 deaths.[24] The differences reflect reporting dates and methodology rather than disagreement over the attack's character as a mass atrocity.

The relationship between Hamas's 2017 Document of General Principles and its 1988 covenant remains debated. Some analysts characterized the newer text as moderation, while Israel and the Palestinian Authority rejected it as a tactical rebranding.[13][15] The 2017 text did not say that it canceled or superseded the 1988 covenant, and the Congressional Research Service noted disagreement over the extent of Hamas's pragmatism.[14][15]

Claims about Hamas's financing and internal hierarchy are also contested. A 2014 U.S. Treasury Department statement said Qatar had openly financed Hamas for years, while Qatari officials denied supporting Hamas financially.[5] The Congressional Research Service describes Hamas's leadership structure as opaque and its distribution of political, military, strategic, and financial authority as not independently verifiable in all respects.[5] Estimates of Hamas's fighter numbers, battlefield losses, and post-October 7 capabilities likewise depend on intelligence and military assessments rather than independently verified counts.[16]