When Hamas launched large-scale attacks into Israel. A number of people were asking: What is Hamas, the terror organisation that governs Palestinians in the Gaza Strip?
Palki Sharma host of Firstpost’s Vantage delved into how Hamas was founded and which nations support the terror group. Please note that the report below was published on 7 October. For current updates from Vantage follow THIS link or browse the videos on YouTube HERE.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation but it calls itself a political party with a military wing, Sharma explained. It is one of the largest two political parties in Palestine, each controlling a different part of Palestine. The Palestine Liberation Organization (“PLO”) controls the West Bank and Hamas controls the Gaza Strip.
Hamas gets its name from an Arab acronym: Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, which translates to the Islamic Resistance Movement. The group was founded by an Arab scholar and cleric, Ahmed Yassin.
In 1967 there was a six-day war fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states after which Israel occupied Palestinian territory. Two decades later, in 1987, Yassin established Hamas and Palestinians rose against Israel’s occupation. At first, the movement was called The First Intifada or The First Uprising. There was a series of violent protests attacking Jews in Israel.
A year later Hamas published their Charter which called for the destruction of Israel and for the establishment of an Islamic society in historic Palestine. Hamas continued their attacks; their targets were civilians.
Read more: What is Hamas and who funds it?
