INDEPTH: MIDDLE EAST
Hamas: Who are they?
CBC News Online | March 29, 2006
Hamas is a Palestinian militant Islamist movement and political organization. It won a stunning victory in the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections and officially formed the government a couple of months later.
Israel, the United States and the European Union all regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and are unlikely to recognize its government. Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act also lists Hamas as an organization associated with terrorism.
Hamas is an acronym for Harakat-al-muqawima Al-islamiyya, in English the Islamic Resistance Movement. It was founded in 1988, just after the start of the intefadeh, the violent uprising in the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Hamas was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928 to promote the Palestinian cause via petitions, demonstrations and fundraising.
Hamas opposed the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which granted Palestinians gradual limited autonomy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and called for complete Israeli withdrawal from both areas.
Hamas' long-term goal is to establish an Islamic state on land originally mandated as Palestine – land that has been contained within Israel's border since its creation in 1948. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a former Hamas leader killed by Israel in 2004, once said that the group's aim is to wipe Israel from the map.
Today, Hamas operates primarily out of the occupied territories (Gaza Strip and the West Bank), Israel and Jordan. Hamas is divided into two separate wings, the political wing and the more well known military wing, Kata-ib Izzidin Qassam (the Izzidin Qassam Brigade, named after a prominent Islamist who fought the British during the 1936-39 uprising).
Hamas has carried out as many as 60 suicide attacks against Israelis since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000, including several attacks on mass transit systems. Hamas has said it has no intention of disarming if it formed the new government.
While Hamas is known primarily for its militant activities, it does carry out other tasks. It operates mosques, schools, clinics, and a number of social programs.
While it's unknown how many members the Hamas has, it does have tens of thousands of sympathizers. As many as 40,000 people gathered in Gaza City to mark the group's 15th anniversary in December 2002.
Hamas supporters have been prominent among those who have challenged the Palestinian National Authority led by Yasser Arafat, and its leaders have been subjected to mass arrests. The organization opposed the 1996 elections held in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for the Palestinian Authority but did not call for a boycott; some sympathizers of the group ran as independents.
Since Arafat's death in 2004, Hamas has taken part in municipal elections and has won seats in several places, including Gaza and Nablus. The group boycotted the 2005 presidential election, but participated in the 2006 legislative election as part of the List of Change and Reform.
 A Palestinian youth outside a polling station during the Palestinian parliamentary elections, Jan. 25, 2006. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Sheik Ahmed Yassin, a founder of Hamas and its spiritual leader, was imprisoned by the Israelis in 1989. Following his release in 1997, Yassin vowed to continue the holy war against Israel. He was killed on March 22, 2004, by an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City. Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral, calling for revenge against Israel.
A day after his death, Hamas announced it had elected Abdel Aziz Rantisi as its new leader in Gaza.
On April 17, 2004, Israeli forces assassinated Rantisi in an air strike near his home. Rantisi's vehicle was hit by two missiles. He died a few minutes after being taken to a hospital, officials said. His son and bodyguard were also killed. The next day, Hamas selected a new Gaza leader in secret and did not release his name.
On Sept. 26, 2004, Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil, a senior leader in the Hamas militant wing, was killed by a car bomb in Syria. Israeli security sources later acknowledged that Israel was behind the assassination.
The group's overall leader, Khaled Meshaal, operates out of Syria and Lebanon.
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