What is Hamas, author of the offensive against Israel?

The Islamist movement Hamas is at risk. the origin of the massive offensive launched on Israel on October 7. In power in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, the group is at war with Israel.

Hamas is Israel's number one enemy. The Prime Minister of the Jewish state, Benyamin Netanyahu, has also committed to à "destroy" the armed group Palestinian from Gaza. A promise made on Saturday October 7, 2023 after the largest offensive ever launched on Israel by Hamas. But this hatred is reciprocal since the goal of the Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza is none other than to erase Israel from the map to create instead a Palestinian Muslim state. A 1988 charter specifies Hamas's raison d'être: to retake Palestine, described as a land given to Muslims by God, and to wage jihad – the "Holy War" – against Israel which, according to him, "usurped" Palestinian lands.

With its surprise offensive, Hamas could bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a new war, fifty years to the day after the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The leader of the movement since 2017, Ismail Haniyeh, launched During a speech broadcast on the Hamas television channel, Al-Aqsa TV, that the assault carried out through Gaza could extend to the West Bank then to Jerusalem.

Hamas in Jerusalem. head of Gaza since 2006

Hamas – an acronym for "harakat al-muqâwama al-'islâmiya" which translates to "Islamic resistance movement" – was born in 1987 after the first intifada, an "uprising" of the Palestinian people against Israel's settlements. It was only in 1993 that the movement created by three men from the Muslim Brotherhood takes off by refusing the Oslo Accords which provide for a peace process and the sharing of Palestinian territory between Israel and the people of Palestine. From then on, Hamas began to attack. carry out ultra-violent and sometimes terrorist actions against the Israeli authorities and civilians, including suicide attacks.

The Islamist movement which is not yet in control its beginnings as an armed group also became a political group around 2005 when the Palestinian enclave that is the Gaza Strip was evacuated by the Israelis. Hamas won the legislative elections in 2007 and has reigned over Gazan territory ever since. If Hamas is present in Gaza, it is not in the West Bank which represents the majority of people. Palestinian lands and where Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah is in place. Since the arrival of Hamas in At the head of Gaza, numerous wars have followed one another in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021 and beyond. new in 2023.

A “terrorist” group?

As a result of these violent actions and war crimes, Hamas is considered a terrorist organization. as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. The movement is also accused of by the community International organizations and certain NGOs such as Amnesty International regularly violate human rights by organizing executions or kidnappings. A violation of rights and oppressive actions that Hamas itself blames Israel.

If Hamas is in the sights of the West, it also has a few allies who support and finance it such as Turkey, Qatar and the United States. Iran. The latter is the most important financial, political and military support of the Palestinian movement. He is perhaps also involved in in the organization of the offensive carried out on Israel on October 7, according to the Wall Street Journal which cites representatives of Hamas and Iranian Hezbollah . Tehran, for its part, declared "support the legitimate defense of the Palestinian nation" but denied any involvement. Lebanese Hezbollah, financed by by the Iranian organization, is also said to be close to Hamas.