Who is Hamas in Palestine ?

Who is Hamas in Palestine

At present, Palestinians have two groups: Al Fateh which is a moderate group and is based in West Bank; the second group is known as Hamas, which is a radical faction is based in Gaza since 2007. Hamas was founded in 1987 with the initiative of another Egypt-based extremist organization Muslim Brotherhood, which was ironically initially supported by Israel. Muslim brotherhood wanted to organize a radical group among Palestinians. It emerged Hamas. Israel supported Brotherhood in Gaza as a balance against Yasser Arafat and its PLO which was the main challenge for Israel in 1980s. What a strange similarity, the US like Israel, also supported the Taliban in 1980s to fight Soviet forces and America’s arch-enemy. The same thing happened with Hamas also.

While Al Fateh has accepted not only the Oslo accord but has recognized Israel’s existence as a sovereign state. But Hamas considers this accord as a compromise with the cause of Palestinians. It wants a Palestine state which has boundaries as existed before 1967. It has not recognize Israel as valid state, neither it has renounced violence in realization of its objectives.

It is still supported by radical elements like Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Egypt based Muslim Brotherhood and some countries like Iran and Syria. It is widely believed that Iran has transferred rocket technology to Hamas. Iran is using Hamas as a tool in enhancing its regional influence. The US, Israel and European countries have declared Hamas a terrorist organization.

Hamas is based in Gaza Strip which has 2 million Palestinians, very densely populated areas. Hamas has built its security structure amidst populated areas, which poses a problem for Israel to precisely target Hamas militants without civilian casualty, which invites criticism from human rights groups and other countries.