Ready to get tough with us? So now we have a request. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. A woman and child take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, on a road between Ashkelon and Sderot, southern Israel, on May 19, Description: Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 8, , Hamas was established in at the onset of the first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The armed element, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has conducted anti-Israeli attacks, including suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. Hamas also manages a broad, mostly Gaza-based, network of Dawa or ministry activities that include charities, schools, clinics, youth camps, fundraising, and political activities. Hamas remained the de facto ruler in Gaza in The group selected a new leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Gaza, on May 6, Activities: Prior to , Hamas conducted numerous anti-Israeli attacks, including suicide bombings, rocket launches, improvised explosive device IED attacks, and shootings.
In June , after Hamas took control of Gaza from the PA and Fatah, the Gaza borders were closed, and Hamas increased its use of tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza via the Sinai and maritime routes. It won the legislative elections in , before reinforcing its power in Gaza the following year by ousting the rival Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas.
Since then, militants in Gaza have fought four major conflicts with Israel, which along with Egypt has maintained a blockade on the strip to isolate Hamas and to pressure it to stop attacks. Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, European Union and United Kingdom, as well as other powers.
Hamas came to prominence after the first intifada as the main Palestinian group opposed to the Oslo peace accords signed in the early s between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation PLO , the body representing most Palestinians.
Despite numerous Israeli operations against it and clampdowns by the Palestinian Authority the main governing body of the Palestinians Hamas found it had an effective power of veto over the process by launching suicide attacks.
It carried out multiple bus bombings, killing scores of Israelis, and stepped up its attacks after Israel assassinated its chief bomb maker Yahya Ayyash in December The bombings were widely blamed for turning Israelis off the peace process and bringing Benjamin Netanyahu - a staunch opponent of the Oslo accords - to power in In the post-Oslo world, most particularly following the failure of US President Bill Clinton's Camp David summit in and the second intifada which followed shortly thereafter, Hamas gained power and influence as Israel clamped down on the Palestinian Authority, which it accused of sponsoring deadly attacks.
Hamas organised clinics and schools, which served Palestinians who felt let down by the corrupt and inefficient Palestinian Authority, dominated by the Fatah faction. Many Palestinians cheered the wave of Hamas suicide attacks in the first years of the second intifada. They saw "martyrdom" operations as avenging their own losses and Israel's settlement-building in the West Bank, territory wanted by Palestinians for a future state of their own.
When Hamas scored a landslide victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections in , the stage was set for a bitter power-struggle with Fatah. Turn on more accessible mode. Turn off more accessible mode. Skip to main content. This site will be unavailable from 8. We apologise for any inconvenience. Australian National Security. Home Media and publications Security and your community Terrorist organisations Currently selected What Australia is doing.
0コメント