Hamas: Palestinian armed resistance group

Hamas حماس
Prime Minister	Ismail Haniyeh
Foreign Minister	Mahmoud Zahar
Founder	Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi & Mahmoud Zahar
Founded	1987 (1987)
Headquarters	Gaza City, Gaza Governorate
Student wing	Islamic Bloc
Ideology	Conservatism National Conservatism Nationalism Anti-Zionism Anti-fascism Anti-aparteid Anti-imperialism
International affiliation	Axis of Resistance
Party flag

Leaders	Yahya Sinwar
Part of	Muslim Brotherhood
Allies	State allies:  Algeria  Egypt (2011–2013)  Iran  Kuwait  Malaysia  North Korea  Qatar  South Africa (denied)  Sudan (until 2019, occasionally since 2023)  Syria (until 2011, occasionally since 2022)  Turkey (partly)  Venezuela Non-state allies:  Hezbollah Houthis Polisario Front  Palestinian Islamic Jihad PFLP DFLP[source?] Lions' Den  Popular Mobilization Forces al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) Al-Farouq Brigades in Sinai
Opponents	State opponents:  Bahrain  Egypt  Israel  Jordan  United Arab Emirates  United States Non-state opponents: Fatah (reconciliation ongoing)  ISIS Al-Qaeda

Hamas was started in 1987 by Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi after the beginning of the First Uprising against Israeli violence and occupation. It started as the Gaza branch of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Egypt. In the 2006 legislative election, the party received 74 out of 132 seats in parliament by campaigning on clean government without corruption, combined with affirmation of Palestinians’ right to defend against the violent Israeli occupation and administrates Gaza. The party has supported the reestablishment of the Land of Palestine in all historic land, which includes the West Bank, Gaza, and the State of Israel. Hamas (along with 38 other countries) does not recognize the State of Israel. The 2017 Hamas Charter stated that the party's struggle was with Zionists and Israeli terrorists. In 2018, the United Nations voted to reject an American claim to condemn Hamas. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told the Reuters news agency, "Rejecting the American drafted resolution against the resistance represents a blow to the American administration and reaffirms the legitimacy of the resistance."

Hamas is an acronym of the Arabic phrase Arabic: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية, or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement". The Hebrew meaning of the name Hamas (חמס; as used in the Hebrew Bible) is "violence".

Hamas is known for its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which plans and carries out attacks on Israel. Because of its history of suicide bombings and rocket attacks on civilians in Israel, the United States, European Union and other countries call it a terrorist organisation. The country of Jordan has banned the group.

Many non-state groups support the use of “terrorist organization” to describe Hamas; Zionist organizations and other pro-Israel groups in particular support this. These groups also exert pressure on the international press to use this language. However, many of the international press, including the English-language edition of the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz and until 20th October 2023, the BBC, refer to Hamas members by the more neutral term "militants” instead.

In early 2006, Hamas won a clear victory in the vote for the Palestinian legislative election. Voters saw Hamas as an alternative to exchange the long-ruling Fatah party, the main part of the PLO. This was due to how Fatah had not improved the Palestinian people's conditions and instead allegedly worsened conditions by corruption. There have been no elections since 2006.

Hamas has shown its organizational ability by building health, education, and social services to help the population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where there are many poor people. Their efforts ended up increasing support to Hamas. In the first half of 2007, Hamas gained political control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah keeps its headquarters in the West Bank.