Hamas, also spelled Ḥamās acronym of Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmiyyah English Islamic Resistance Movement, Militant Palestinian nationalist and Islamist movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The group is dedicated to the establishment of an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine. Its name means “zeal” in Arabic. Hamas was founded in 1987 and organized in part by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Its 1988 charter states that Palestine is an Islamic homeland that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims and that waging holy war to take control of Palestine from Israel is a religious duty for Palestinian Muslims. This position brought Hamas into conflict with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which in 1988 recognized Israel’s right to exist. Hamas opposed the 1993 peace agreement between the PLO and Israel. Beginning in 2000, the group intensified its violent acts against Israelis, including numerous suicide bombings. In 2006 Hamas participated in the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council and won a surprise victory over Fatah. Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and in 2008 it launched rockets at Israel, which responded with military action. Between 2012 and 2021 Hamas and Israel engaged in several significant conflicts. A Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, killed more than 1,200 people, resulting in war between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas Article
Hamas summary
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intifada Summary
Intifada, either of two popular uprisings of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip aimed at ending Israel’s occupation of those territories and creating an independent Palestinian state. The first intifada began in December 1987 and ended in September 1993 with the signing of the first Oslo
nationalism Summary
Nationalism, ideology based on the premise that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests. This article discusses the origins and history of nationalism to the 1980s. For later developments in the history of nationalism, see 20th-century
Islam Summary
Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century ce. The Arabic term islām, literally “surrender,” illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam—that the believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of
Muslim Brotherhood Summary
Muslim Brotherhood, religiopolitical organization founded in 1928 at Ismailia, Egypt, by Hassan al-Banna. Islamist in orientation, it advocated a return to the Qurʾān and the Hadith as guidelines for a healthy modern Islamic society. The Brotherhood spread rapidly throughout Egypt, Sudan, Syria,