Feeling overwhelmed with information? We’re here to help cut through the noise. Learn the most common questions about Israel — along with the accurate information to address them through dialogue and discussion:
What is Hamas?
Founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist group, Hamas is a political and militant group that came to power by winning Gaza’s 2006 elections, and then seizing complete control of the enclave after a violent conflict with the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah faction the following year. Hamas has both a political wing and a military wing, and its military branch, the al-Qassam Brigades, has carried out bombings, rocket attacks, and kidnappings that targeted Israeli civilians — most notably during the Second Intifada and the October 7, 2023 attacks in which more than 1,200 people were killed, and 250 taken hostage.
Hamas’s stated goal is the elimination of the State of Israel, and it adheres to a doctrine of rejecting prospects for peace or coexistence with Israel. The United States designated Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997, and it has subsequently been designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Australia, and dozens of other countries. The group receives significant support from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and has been criticized for using humanitarian aid to fund military operations, such as tunnel networks and weapons stockpiles.
While it has been significantly depleted in the most recent war against Israel, as of 2025 Hamas remains the governing military and political force in Gaza, suppressing political opposition and enforcing strict Islamist rule. The group has been condemned for embedding military infrastructure within civilian areas, which increases the risk to Palestinian civilians during conflicts. While some view Hamas as a resistance group, its tactics — including attacks on civilians — continue to be a major barrier to peace efforts in the region.