IsraelPalestine Conflict What Is Hamas Who Represents Palestinians

By Prabhash K Dutta: Israel and Hamas have implemented truce in Palestine’s Gaza after 11 days of fighting that saw rockets flying from both sides. The truce was brokered by Egypt. It was interesting to see Israel engage in talks for truce with Hamas, a stakeholder it classifies as a terrorist organisation in Palestine.

Hamas launched rocket attack on May 10 after violence escalated in East Jerusalem following Israel’s decision to put up barricades restricting the number of devotees to offer prayer at Al-Aqsa, the third holiest mosque in Islam, in April during Ramzan.

The recent calling of truce by Israel and Hamas is significant given that they have a long history of military clashes. Hamas had always been opposed to peace process with Israel.

Hamas came up during 1980s, and made its presence felt in 1987, when it led the first Intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israel. Hamas means zeal in Arabic but in Palestine, it is also an acronym of Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah or the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Hamas sprang from an Islamic philosophical-political organisation, Muslim Brotherhood, which set up a number of charity organisations across Palestine after the 1967 war. Its founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, wheelchair-bound since the age of 12, played the most significant role. He became the spiritual leader of Hamas, and was killed in an Israeli attack in 2004.

Through 1990s, Hamas evolved as an armed force. Today, Hamas has emerged as the most powerful political entity in Palestine.

Also See: Chronology samajhiye: : A timeline of Israel-Palestine conflict

Who represents Palestinian people?

After the creation of Israel in 1948, powers such as Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Arab countries were stakeholders in Palestinian political power. In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) came up to organise a struggle against Israel and formation of a state of Palestine.

Yasser Arafat was its most popular leader through 1980s and 1990s. His Fatah party won first elections held in 1996 in both Gaza and the West Bank regions where the Palestinian National Authority (commonly referred to as Palestinian Authority) ran civil administration.

The Palestinian Authority is recognised by the United Nations as a result of the Oslo Peace Accord of 1993. The Accord was never implemented though.

A Palestinian woman looks out after returning to her house which was destroyed by Israeli strikes in the recent cross-border violence between Palestinian militants and Israel, following Israel-Hamas truce, in Gaza. (Photo:Reuters)

After the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, the leadership of both the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah party passed on to Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas has strengthened its military might and also gained popularity since then.

The second round of elections were held in 2005, after Israel withdrew its military from Gaza Strip. The Fatah party won the Palestinian presidential election but Hamas emerged victorious in Gaza. In 2006, it effected a coup against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbad in Gaza to set up its rule.

Now, Hamas rules Gaza and the Fatah Party administers the West Bank. Since then every time Israel and Palestine fight, it is a military battle between Israeli forces and Hamas’s Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Also See: Israeli Security Cabinet approves ceasefire to stop military operation in Gaza

What does Hamas want?

Hamas played the central role along with the then Opposition leaders including Benjamin Netanyahu (current prime minister) in Israel in scuttling the 1993 peace deal. Hamas carried out suicide bombings in Israel after the peace accord was signed, and launched a massive campaign against Yasser Arafat’s secular political movement.

Hamas is opposed to two-state solution accepted by the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations. The peace scheme provides for existence of both Israel and Palestine. Hamas does not recognise Israel’s right to exist. Its map for the state of Palestine includes the territories of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

In 1988, Hamas issued a charter that declares Palestine an Islamic land where Jewish state had no possibility of existence.

In 2017, by when Hamas had emerged as the most potent force in Palestine, the group nuanced its position a bit to declare creation of an interim state of Palestine in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem — which was the theatre of latest violence — as its immediate goal.

Hamas still did not recognise the existence of Israel but said its fight was not against the Jews — a departure from 1988 — but against the Zionist forces.

Also See: Why Jews created Israel in Palestine as their homeland

Who supports Hamas?

The Palestinian Authority is supported by over three-fourths of the UN members. However, Hamas has strong backing of countries in the Middle-East or West Asia.

In the early years, Jordan was the biggest supporter of Hamas, which had its headquarters in that country. But in 1999, Jordan expelled Hamas from its territory accusing it of using the country as a military base for its operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas shifted to Syria as it launched second Intifada in 2000. But Hamas fell out with the Asad regime of Syria when it faced a civil war and international pressure. Hamas now has its leadership base in Qatar, which is also said to be its biggest financier.

Besides Qatar, Hamas has the support from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. They were the most vocal critics of Israel on Thursday at the UN.

Further, there are a host of organisations that give generous donations to Hamas, which is facing sanctions from a number of countries including the US and the UK, and an economic blockade in Gaza by Israel and Egypt since 2007.

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