and Canada, have designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its attacks on Israel, which include rocket salvos and suicide bombings. Many countries, including the U.S., the U.K. In 2017, 30 years after its founding, the group issued a new charter that appeared to stop short of that goal. Founded in 1987 during an uprising against Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, the group was originally a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which favors Islamist principles - a belief that Islam should play a major role in political life.įor decades, Hamas called for the destruction of Israel. Hamas is one of the two major political parties in the Palestinian territories. What is Hamas, and whom does it represent? Israel says the blockade, which gives it control of Gaza's borders and is also enforced by Egypt, is necessary to protect Israeli citizens from Hamas. Since then, no elections have been held.ĭespite pleas from the United Nations and human rights groups, Israel has maintained a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007 that has had a devastating effect on Palestinian civilians. It took control of Gaza after it won elections there in 2006. Hamas, which has clashed repeatedly with the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank who negotiated the Oslo Peace Accords, is a militant Palestinian nationalist movement currently led by Ismail Haniyeh.

Mahmoud Issa / Sipa USA via AP file Who governs and who controls it? Palestinian children play outside their home in the Al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in August. Half of Palestinians living in Gaza are under age 19, but they have few to no prospects for socioeconomic growth and limited access to the outside world. Today, with over 2 million Palestinians living within roughly 140 square miles, it is “one of the world’s most densely populated territories,” according to Gisha, an Israeli nongovernmental organization.

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