Hamas is an Islamist assailant development and one of the Palestinian domains’ two significant ideological groups. It oversees nearly two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, although it is most famous for its armed opposition to Israel.
Hamas conducted a devastating surprise attack on southern Israel in October 2023, murdering hundreds of civilians and troops and kidnapping many as prisoners. In response, Israel has declared war on the group and indicated its military is planning a long campaign to defeat it. In opposition of Hamas, Israel has announced war on them and identified their military is arranging a long term mission to accomplish it.
How Hamas Created
A Muslim religious leader Sheikh Ahmad Yasin established Hamas in 1987. Hamas is known as Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah which is also known as Islamic Resistance Movement in English.
A community known as Muslim Brotherhood built many schools, charities, hospitals in the Gaza strip and West Bank areas where Israel occupied lands in 1970s and early 1980s. Their activities were silent and non-violent at that time but in early 1980s Israeli communities started calling from some Palestinian groups to accomplish their goals for Jihad or a revenge against Israel which was later on named as Intifadah, which later broke out in December 1987. And on the same month Muslim Brotherhood community and religious sections of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) found the Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah.
Who are the leaders of Hamas
Hamas Leaders are living across Qatar, Gaza, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran. They are:
Ismail Haniyeh is the Chief of the political bureau based in Qatar
Yahya Sinwar is the leader of Hamas in Gaza
Saleh al-Arouri is the deputy political chief who lives most of his life between Turkey, Qatar, Lebanon and Iran
Mohammad Deif is the commander of Hammas’ al-Qassam Brigades
Khaled Mashal was the former leader of Hamas in Qatar, recently known as Hamas official for the Islamic Republic of Iran as Day of Jihad Khaled Qaddoumi
How Hamas gets their Funds
Earlier Hamas used to get funds from the United States and European union but later on US cutoff with Hamas and designated them as foreign terrorist Organization. Egypt also closed its borders from Gaza and restricted the import and export of goods and travel. After a couple of years Egypt again started exporting goods through Gaza whereas Hamas charges them 12 million dollars per month from Egypt.
Every year Iran, Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait and other Islamic countries support this with finance, arms, food, military, and in many other forms.
Every year Iran provides around 100 million dollars, Qatar supports more than 120 million dollars to its Government.
Why Hamas rule on Gaza
BeforeHarakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah, Fateh was the leader of the West bank and controlling everything over there. However, they wanted to take control over Palestinians and there was an election held between these two parties and it won. In 2005 Israel withdrew their seats from the Palestines and Hamas formed a government which controls everything related to social services, how women will dress up and it also controls the Gaza media, politics, NGOs and social media.
How has Hamas posed a challenge to Israel?
By the middle of the 2000s, Hamas had taken over the Gaza Strip and was firing rockets and mortars into Israel. Tehran supplied some of these weapons, according to Iranian security officials, but Hamas trained with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and proxies to build its own rockets. Israel has calculated that the armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, including Hamas, have about 30,000 rockets and mortars.
In several instances, fires have been started by Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah militants who have floated balloons carrying incendiary devices toward Israel. Furthermore, the gang has killed and kidnapped soldiers and civilians during incursions into Israeli territory.
Before the conflict in 2023, Israel and Hamas fought each other in the deadliest manner possible in 2021 after weeks of hostilities in Jerusalem. They fired missiles into Israel. Speakers speculated that Hamas planned to improve its reputation as a defender of the Palestinian cause following the PA’s decision to postpone the elections scheduled for 2021.
Ten Israeli civilians were killed and hundreds more were injured when Hamas and PIJ launched nearly 4,000 missiles from Gaza during the eleven-day conflict. Along with its regular arsenal of less accurate missiles, they allegedly worked with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the IRGC during the conflict. It also reportedly used “suicide drones.” A cease-fire in the fighting was mediated by the US and Egypt.
How is 2023 Hamas’s attack on Israel different ?
The attack on southern Israel by Hamas this year, which the organization’s leaders call as “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm,” is said by analysts to have been exceptional in terms of strategy, scope, and secrecy. On October 7, a significant Jewish holiday and Shabbat, it began early when they launched thousands of missiles into southern and central Israel, reaching as far north as Tel Aviv.
The heavily guarded Gaza border was also stormed by Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah militants, who also infiltrated numerous southern Israeli towns and villages and killed hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians while injuring and capturing many more.
What Speakers Think about Israel
It is the bloodiest attack on Israeli land in decades, leaving the Israeli people in significant psychological distress, with some commentators drawing connections to the unexpected Pearl Harbour and September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Security services in the US and Israel reportedly lacked any proof that Hamas was preparing an attack of this kind. According to Bruce Hoffman, a senior fellow at the CFR, “it is totally unthinkable that a terrorist organization would be able to plan for such massive assaults from everywhere, land, air and oceans.
There are analysts who doubt Israel’s ability to carry out a full-scale invasion and reoccupation of Palestinian territory, which could lead to significant casualties on both sides. Since they took control of the organization in 2007, a couple of years after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Israel has conducted multiple military operations against the group. Still, the bulk of these originated in the air. Max Boot, a Senior Fellow at CFR writes for the Washington Post that Israeli forces were never put up for an extended period of time, even when they were deployed.
Resources
Blumenthal, E. (2023, October 16). 10 Things to Know about Hamas. FDD. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/10/16/10-things-to-know-about-hamas/
Laub, Z., & Robinson, K. (2021, August 17). What Is Hamas? Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas