Due to its recent attacks on Israel, Hamas has been in the news lately. Here is some information about the organization.
Hamas is a non-state armed group that operates in the Middle East-North Africa region. The Council on Foreign Relations notes that its name is an acronym for the romanticized name for a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist group known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, meaning “zeal” in Arabic.
Hamas was born in late 1987 out of the violence of the first Intifada (uprising against Israel), according to Britannica. Hamas is a multi-layered organization: it is an ideological organization, a military organization, a nationalist organization, a political party, and a socioreligious movement.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S., Canada, and the European Union, and other nations consider its military component to be a terrorist group. After winning the 2006 Palestinian election, it has governed the Gaza Strip since taking over the area in 2007, notes Britannica.
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The Ideology of Hamas
According to Brookings, Hamas supports a mix of a more traditional pan-Islamist ideology, Palestinian nationalism and a radical interpretation of Islam known as Neo-Salafism that some associate with Salafi-Jihadism. It is energized by its vehement opposition to Israel’s continued existence and willingness to use force to achieve its desired objectives.
As both a nationalist and militant organization, Hamas holds seats in the parliament of the Palestinian National Authority, notes the Institute for Middle East Understanding. Also, this organization has service and military components. Hamas willingly uses violent resistance in a flexible manner as part of its overall conflict management strategy and to achieve its larger objectives.
Relationship with the State
Hamas was initially created to serve as the armed wing of the Gaza-based branch of the Muslim Brotherhood on the eve of the first Intifada in 1987, according to Britannica. Since then, Hamas has developed a strong political identity as a socio-political movement outside of the traditional government institutions, along with becoming a political party.
Hamas’ political activism, which was especially evident at universities and in trade unions, began immediately after its creation. Now, it has become increasingly active at grassroots instruction endeavors, the traditional political process in local politics and non-political elections.
Hamas is both a militant movement and also one of the Palestinian territories’ two major political parties. As a political organization, Hamas governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Its unwavering hostility toward Israel has diminished the prospects for stability in Gaza.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is dominated by its rival party, Fatah. It has renounced violence and also rules in the West Bank.
Hamas receives financial and material support from Iran, and some of its top leaders are provided sanctuary in and by Turkey.
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Administrative Efforts
During the period 1987-2004, Hamas was highly involved in Palestine’s political life. However, Hamas leaders decided it should run as an official political party in the 2004-2005 Palestinian municipal elections and again in the 2006 legislative elections.
Hamas experienced somewhat unexpected success as a political party. It won the 2006 legislative elections and subsequently assumed control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.
Since then, Hamas’ involvement in the Palestinian political system has shifted further from participation to direct control and governance. Hamas has also long administered a complex and sophisticated social movement and social services network in areas under its control. For instance, it is directly involved in healthcare, education, poverty alleviation and economic development.
The Use of Force by Hamas
Hamas is distinctive for its willingness to be flexible in terms of its interpretations of what constitutes “legitimate Islamic resistance” as part of its overall conflict management strategy. For example, Hamas’ use of force has changed over time; it has become significantly more sophisticated and evolved to merge insurgency and hybrid or semi-conventional tactics.
From an operational perspective, Hamas was first a relatively unsophisticated, violent faction perpetrating individual stabbings against Israelis. Now, it has carried out both large-scale bombing, rocket, and ground attacks in Israel.
In the past decade, Hamas’ operations have become increasingly sophisticated from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives, modeling themselves closer to a conventional army organized in divisions and partitioning the Gaza Strip into military districts. Hamas leaders implemented these organizational changes while investing in developing and upgrading this group’s arsenal and expanding in size.
Inspired by Hezbollah’s operations in the 2006 war with Israel, Hamas has embraced a more hybrid approach to its military attacks. Hamas has been successful in close-quarter approaches, such as ambushes, the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and suicide bombers. Also, this group is using military actions that require higher levels of combat skills and coordination and allow it to engage in less-costly standoff engagements.
This combination of efforts has been increasingly successful, enabling Hamas to conduct more sophisticated operations and even hold some important ground positions. What is surprising is that Hamas is finding success using an approach that is more characteristic of conventional military organizations.
Use of Non-Coercive Practices
Hamas has been involved in a wide variety of activities, including its grassroots political activism, its provision of social services and its direct involvement in institutional politics. The group’s involvement in these areas shows the breadth of its engagement and commitment to the power struggle in the region in ways that extend beyond the use of force to non-violent actions.
Hamas Will Likely Remain Influential in the Region
This group is distinctive in its success in becoming an effective political entity in Lebanon since 2006 and in its role serving as the de facto ruler of the highly contested Gaza Strip area. It is transnational in nature, has a political aspect, and is aligned with a major sect of the Islamic faith.
Its ability to remain relevant and retain its influence in the Middle East since 1987 is a testament to the effectiveness of its pragmatic approach and flexible use of violence. Hamas will likely continue to remain influential in the region for some time.
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