Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni Islamic terrorist organization that operates primarily in Gaza and the West Bank, with holdings in Arab countries throughout the Middle East.
Hamas was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood political movement, and was established in 1987 in the wake of the First Intifada. According to Hamas’s charter, the organization was established to liberate Palestine from Israel in order to establish an Islamic state. It holds aspirations on all territory between the Mediterranean seas and the Jordan river, and refuses to acknowledge Israel in any capacity.
The group has a military wing, known as the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas has used a wide range of tactics, but it does not discriminate in its targets, and often targets civilians. It is recognized by most Western states as a terrorist organization. Hamas has engaged in a number of military confrontations with Israel. Its military wing has employed tactics such as suicide bombings, rocket attacks, kidnapping attempts, and tunnel infiltrations against Israeli soldiers and civilians.
In 2006, the Palestinians held legislative elections in Gaza, but when Hamas won, there was a civil war, and Hamas seized full control of the Strip. Under Hamas, Gaza has been in a longstanding state of conflict with Israel. From the 2005 Israeli disengagement onwards, Hamas has continued to commit terrorist attacks against Israelis from Gaza, and several operations have been fought to quell Hamas attacks, including 2008's Cast Lead, 2011's Pillar of Defense, 2014's Protective Edge, 2021's Guardian of the Walls, and 2024's Operation Swords of Iron.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists carried out an unprecedented invasion of southern Israel under the cover of widespread rocket-fire, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping hundreds to serve as hostages in Gaza. This started the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, which has seen the IDF carry out numerous strikes in Gaza and carrying out a ground invasion to wipe the terrorist group out.
In the year since, the IDF has managed to take out most of Hamas's leadership, including Saleh al-Arouri, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Ismail Haniyeh.
Israel's new aid system for the Gaza Strip would allow direct delivery to families, but Western diplomats told The Jerusalem Post that aid organizations have some non-starters.
All relevant information in the possession of the IDF’s Missing Persons Unit is passed on to the hostage's family by an intelligence officer.
According to the preliminary discussions, there would be no fixed timeline for how long such a US-led administration would last.
Ahmed was responsible for the operations of the terror group's Western Brigade in Lebanon.
Both nations face state-sponsored terror groups that operate among civilians: Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed against India, Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel.
The survey also found that 48% of Palestinians in Gaza supported the series of anti-Hamas demonstrations that sprang up across the enclave.
UW spokesman Victor Balta said the University "will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms."
Palestinian social media posts encouraged followers to join in the orgy of hate on Israel's Remembrance Day and to light fires with the stated goal of burning down forests, cars and homes.
Israel Police emphasized that the right to protest is protected, but only when public order and the law are upheld.
The new operation is dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots” and it is supposed to defeat Hamas and lead to the hostages being freed.
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