HAMAS is an Islamist militant group founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian Intifada or uprising against Israel.<\/p>\n

On October 7, 2023, they launched surprise land, air, and sea attacks on Israel, killing over 200 Israelis and leaving thousands more injured. <\/p>\n

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What is Hamas?<\/h2>\n

Hamas got its name from "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia," which is Arabic for Islamic Resistance Movement.<\/p>\n

The organization is a Palestinian militant movement that also serves as one of the territories\u2019 two major political parties, explains the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).<\/p>\n

Over the years, Hamas has carried out shooting, bombing, and rocket attacks in Israel. <\/p>\n

Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza have fought multiple cross-border wars and have had numerous skirmishes since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007.<\/p>\n

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Hamas as a whole, or in some cases its military wing, is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US, the EU, and the UK, as well as other powers.<\/p>\n

"To its supporters, though, Hamas is seen as a legitimate resistance movement," reported BBC.<\/p>\n

In 1997, the US designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. <\/p>\n

The United States Department of State says: "Historically, Hamas has received funding, weapons, and training from Iran and raises funds in Gulf countries. <\/p>\n

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"The group receives donations from Palestinian expatriates as well as its own charity organizations."<\/p>\n

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel.<\/p>\n

The IDF said that the group had fired over 2,000 rockets from Gaza, while some militants entered the state via land, sea, and air using paragliders.<\/p>\n

We are on the verge of a great victory and a clear conquest on the Gaza front," Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a broadcast on Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television.<\/p>\n

"Enough is enough, the cycle of intifadas [uprisings] and revolutions in the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation [Israeli] prisons must be completed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is Hamas' leader?<\/h2>\n

Ismail Haniyeh is the current political chief of Hamas.<\/p>\n

He was born in the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in 1962 to parents who fled Israel during the\u00a01948 Arab-Israeli War.<\/p>\n

He received a degree in Arabic literature from the\u00a0Islamic University of Gaza, where he also started his involvement with Hamas.<\/p>\n

Haniyeh has been with the group since its inception and began climbing the ranks starting in 1997, in part due to his work as an aide of Hamas\u2019 co-founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. <\/p>\n

From 2006 to 2007, Haniyeh served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n

In 2017, he replaced Khaled Meshaal as Hamas' leader.<\/p>\n

He was re-elected in 2021 in an internal election, which he reportedly won unopposed.<\/p>\n

What does Hamas want?<\/h2>\n

Put very simply, Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and wants Palestinians to be able to return to what they regard as their old home.<\/p>\n

Back in 1988, under the Islamic militant's group charter, the group said it was committed to the destruction of Israel.<\/p>\n

In its founding charter, Hamas called for setting up an Islamic state in historic Palestine.<\/p>\n

This is the territory between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, which also includes Israel.<\/p>\n

This founding charter was filled with anti-Jewish references.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the Associated Press reported on the release of a "seemingly more pragmatic political program aimed at ending the group\u2019s international isolation."<\/p>\n

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AP added that the new blueprint stressed that Hamas bore no enmity toward Jews. It said its fight was with those occupying Palestinian lands.<\/p>\n

Through its new manifesto, Hamas rebranded itself as an Islamic national liberation movement, rather than as a branch of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood. <\/p>\n

The document said that Hamas would accept a Palestinian state on 1967 borders.<\/p>\n

It also dropped explicit language calling for Israel\u2019s destruction, though it retained the goal of eventually \u201cliberating\u201d all of historic Palestine, which includes what is now Israel.<\/p>\n

However, the group reaffirmed that it would not recognize Israel, renounce violence, or recognize previous interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.<\/p>\n

The updated policy was scoffed at by Israel, with the prime minister's spokesman saying: "When you look at what they tell their own people on Hamas's TV stations, in their mosques, in their schools, they are calling on a daily basis to destroy Israel."<\/p>\n

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Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks from the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

Egypt, along with Israel, has been enforcing a crippling border blockade against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since the group seized the territory in 2007.<\/p>\n

Israel controls most of Gaza's borders and coastal territory, deciding who can get in and out of Gaza, including goods.<\/p>\n

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Hamas has demanded that Israel stop its restrictions.<\/p>\n

Hamas also claims Israel is occupying Palestinian land and resists occupation by launching rocket attacks from Gaza, while Israel retaliates to such attacks with further force.<\/p>\n

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