Hamas

Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni Islamic terrorist organization that operates primarily in Gaza and the West Bank, with holdings in Arab countries throughout the Middle East.

Hamas was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood political movement, and was established in 1987 in the wake of the First Intifada. According to Hamas’s charter, the organization was established to liberate Palestine from Israel in order to establish an Islamic state. It holds aspirations on all territory between the Mediterranean seas and the Jordan river, and refuses to acknowledge Israel in any capacity.

The group has a military wing, known as the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas has used a wide range of tactics, but it does not discriminate in its targets, and often targets civilians. It is recognized by most Western states as a terrorist organization. Hamas has engaged in a number of military confrontations with Israel. Its military wing has employed tactics such as suicide bombings, rocket attacks, kidnapping attempts, and tunnel infiltrations against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

In 2006, the Palestinians held legislative elections in Gaza, but when Hamas won, there was a civil war, and Hamas seized full control of the Strip. Under Hamas, Gaza has been in a longstanding state of conflict with Israel. From the 2005 Israeli disengagement onwards, Hamas has continued to commit terrorist attacks against Israelis from Gaza, and several operations have been fought to quell Hamas attacks, including 2008's Cast Lead, 2011's Pillar of Defense, 2014's Protective Edge, 2021's Guardian of the Walls, and 2024's Operation Swords of Iron.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists carried out an unprecedented invasion of southern Israel under the cover of widespread rocket-fire, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping hundreds to serve as hostages in Gaza. This started the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, which has seen the IDF carry out numerous strikes in Gaza and carrying out a ground invasion to wipe the terrorist group out.

In the year since, the IDF has managed to take out most of Hamas's leadership, including Saleh al-Arouri, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar, and Ismail Haniyeh.

This Elul, Israel's government should ask forgiveness from the citizens it has wronged - opinion

As yet another Israeli election fast approaches, I ask our government to acknowledge the errors it has made, errors that have affected, often disastrously, every one of our citizens.

AUGUST 14, 2026|BySTEWART WEISS

HEED THE SHOFAR: Can we harness the ‘Elul effect’?

People gather on a crowded beach in Gaza City in July.

Stop living in la-la land: Only the IDF can curb Israel’s enemies – opinion

Praise to America for the Jared Kushner-driven initiative to stop Hamas and Hezbollah, but make no mistake, apart from the IDF, no external good-willed individual can stop these terrorists

AUGUST 14, 2026|ByDAVID M. WEINBERG

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks with 'Jerusalem Post' Editor in Chief Zvika Klein, August 12, 2026.

The secret Smotrich kept from his wife: Israel was going to war with Iran - interview

He voted against the January 2025 hostage deal, his own voters demanded he resign, and Ben-Gvir walked out. Smotrich stayed silent for five months. In an interview with the Post, he explained why.

AUGUST 14, 2026|ByZVIKA KLEIN, KESHET NEEV

Despite suffering significant military losses during the war, Hamas’s new leadership has reaffirmed Gaza as the movement’s political and operational center of gravity.

PremiumPremium

Does Hamas’s new course look like the old one? What Khalil al-Hayya’s election means - analysis

The election of Khalil al-Hayya as Hamas leader: Circumstances and implications

AUGUST 14, 2026|ByKOBI MICHAEL

'Facts prevail over fiction,' Danon says as new UNICEF-led survey challenges Gaza famine claims

The nutrition survey, which was coordinated by the UNICEF, showed that children in Gaza have low levels of acute malnutrition.

AUGUST 7, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

Displaced Palestinian children look out of their shelter in Gaza City, June 15, 2026

Hamas terrorists push Palestinians to kill Israeli-backed militia members, Gazans tell ‘Post'

The call to assassinate figures in the armed militias follows the announcement of a roadmap for advancing to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire.

AUGUST 6, 2026ByDANA BEN-SHIMON

Masked gunmen from the Qassam brigade, the militia wing of Hamas, attend the funeral of Mazen Faqha in Gaza City, Saturday, March, 25, 2017. The former Palestinian prisoner whom Israel sent to Gaza after his release was found shot dead at the entrance of his house in Gaza City.

Iran is losing its proxies and winning time for the bomb - opinion

For Tehran, the degradation of its assets may be an acceptable price if it exhausts its adversaries, fragments their attention, and shields what the regime regards as its ultimate guarantee

AUGUST 6, 2026ByMAAYAN SAMUN

An Iranian missile is displayed during a rally marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Tehran, Iran April 29, 2022.

'Days only get harder': Released hostage Yarden Bibas honors murdered son Ariel on seventh birthday

“Chuki, I can't lift you up in your birthday chair, and I also don't get to see you excitedly open all the presents you would have received," his father, Yarden Bibas, wrote.

AUGUST 6, 2026ByTHE MEDIA LINE STAFF

Ariel Bibas, who died in Hamas captivity, with his dog Tonto, who was murdered on October 7.

Third day of Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome ends after US blocks Israeli attack on Hezbollah

Two IDF reservists killed in southern Lebanon blast • IDF dismantles Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon • Houthis claim to have attacked Saudi oil tankers

AUGUST 6, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland, US, August 2, 2026.

Figures who justified October 7 advised CMHR Nakba exhibit, B'nai Brith finds - exclusive

Several people involved with shaping the exhibit belong to CPAM, a group that accused Israel of stealing the organs of dead Palestinians in Gaza, a statement classified by the IHRA as a blood libel.

AUGUST 5, 2026ByMATHILDA HELLER

Aerial view of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on April 28, 2024.

WATCH: IDF paratroopers and K9 unit discover, destroy rocket-filled tunnel in southern Gaza

A video released by the IDF shows footage from a body camera on a military dog of the IDF's K9 unit, Oketz, exploring the cave and finding dozens of munitions.

AUGUST 5, 2026ByJONAH DAVIDOV

Officers of the Nachal brigade train with Israeli soldiers from the Oketz unit in an urban warfare, at the mock village of El Poran, in northern Golan Heights.

Iran's Pezeshkian tells Hamas chief that Iran will support any decision made in Gaza - report

Pezeshkian pledged Iran's support for the Palestinian leaders' decision in a phone call with the head of Hamas' political bureau.

AUGUST 5, 2026ByREUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks on the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, in February.

Hamas shifts covert organizational units, activities to Turkey following Qatari crackdown

Palestinian sources say that the transfer to Turkey involves most of Hamas's covert activities, while Qatar will continue to host the terror organization's leadership and public-facing activities.

AUGUST 5, 2026ByJONAH DAVIDOV

Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip December 3, 2025.

Hamas' denial of October 7 opens a new front in its existential war against Israel - opinion

If Netanyahu is replaced on October 27, Israel's next government should recognize that preserving the historical record has become a strategic imperative.

AUGUST 5, 2026ByDAN PERRY