1. What are the origins of Hamas?
Hamas emerged as the Palestinian wing of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood after the outbreak of the first intifada in 1987 and is the largest Palestinian militant organization, as Kristen Chick wrote in a 2009 Monitor briefing. An Arabic word that means zeal or enthusiasm, "Hamas" is also an acronym for the group's official Arabic name, the Islamic Resistance Movement.
Its goal is to "liberate" Palestinian territories from Israeli occupation, and it has launched rockets and suicide bombers in pursuit of that end. The US, Israel, and the European Union consider it a terrorist group. But its military wing is not its only operation. Hamas also runs a large social services network and a political wing. It operates primarily in the Gaza Strip, though it also maintains offices in Damascus, Syria.
2. What does Hamas believe?
According to Hamas's founding charter, the land of Palestine is a God-given endowment to the Palestinians. The charter also states that Hamas's long-term goal is the establishment of a Sunni Islamic state on all of historical Palestine. This vision leaves no room for Israel.
But in recent years, some Hamas leaders have indicated they would be amenable to a more moderate approach. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs reported in mid-2010 that Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal told American University Professor Robert Pastor that the charter is a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons. Mr. Meshal, who recently said he will not run for reelection, has also recently indicated that Hamas could confront Israel through nonviolent means.
3. What is Hamas's relationship with Fatah?
Hamas has been a contentious rival to Fatah since Hamas was founded in 1988. Fatah has tried to garner support on the international stage by implicitly accepting Israel and pushing toward a Palestinian state. But those policies have lessened its stature among Palestinians, some of whom instead turned toward Hamas and its absolute rejection of a two-state solution.
The two groups have alternately cooperated against Israel and violently clashed with each other over the years. They also competed in the political arena in 2006, when Hamas entered legislative elections for the first time and topped Fatah, winning a majority of seats in the Palestinian Authority. International donors, which provide much of the Palestinian Authority's budget, cut off aid when Hamas refused to recognize Israel's right to exist.
In December of that year, the rivalry turned violent again as sporadic battles broke out between the two factions' security forces. In June 2007, Hamas gunmen drove Fatah's forces out of Gaza. Fatah's security returned the favor days later, expelling Hamas from the West Bank. The two groups remained at odds until May 2011, when they signed a reconciliation agreement to mend the split and strengthen Palestinians' bid for statehood.
4. How big is Hamas’s power base?
Hamas's home turf is Gaza, which is where its security forces lie. Haaretz reported in December 2008, just before Israel attacked Hamas in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, that Hamas had some 15,000 militants in its ranks. Hamas's forces are made up in large part of members of the Al Qassam Brigades, who played a prominent role in both Operation Cast Lead and in the 2007 conflict with Fatah. As a result, they remain resistant to reconciliation efforts and could undermine them, due to the influence they hold among Palestinians.
Hamas also draws support from other nations in the region. Iran has supplied trainers and weapons to Hamas's military wing, as has Lebanon's Hezbollah, a longtime opponent of Israel. Syria is another supporter of Hamas – Meshal's political office is in Damascus – but the recent upheaval there has spurred Hamas to begin moving staff out of the country. Observers believe that Hamas hopes to open a headquarters in Egypt, and wants to signal that it has the potential to recast itself as more moderate.
5. What could reconciliation mean for Hamas?
One of the primary motives for Fatah and Hamas's reconciliation is to strengthen the Palestinians' bid for statehood. As the Monitor reported in November, the UN Security Council committee that reviewed the Palestinian application for statehood specifically mentioned the Gaza-West Bank split as a problem.
But the Israeli-Palestinian peace process could be further hobbled if Hamas and Fatah succeed in their current efforts to reconcile and form a unity government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues that until Hamas foreswears violence and recognizes Israel, there can be no talks with a government of which they are part. The US, which lists Hamas as a terrorist organization, is similarly opposed to negotiations with the group.
Hamas also sees reconciliation as an opportunity to take advantage of change being promulgated in the Arab Spring. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesperson in the Gaza Strip, told the Monitor that "We believe that this result of the democratic process might mean full support for Palestinian rights and interest, now that [Arab governments’] hearts are with the people."
But some warn that Hamas is misreading the direction the change is going. "It is an Islamic Spring, but it's not an Islamic Spring Hamas thinks about," says Mohammed Dejani, a political science professor at Al Quds University. "There has been a religious revival, but in a sense of moderation and not in a sense of religious fundamentalism."
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