Its name means “fervor” or “zeal”. Founded on December 10, 1987, Hamas is an acronym for “Islamic resistance movement.” Recognized as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States, the European Union and Israel, it is responsible for the attack of October 7 which left more than 1,400 dead on the Israeli side, as of the day of writing these lines. A major offensive orchestrated by this Islamo-nationalist movement originating from the Palestinian branch of the Islamist organization of Egyptian origin, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas has presented itself, for several years, as the standard bearer of the liberation of the Palestinian people from Israel. In 2007, he pushed the Palestinian Authority – a government organization created in 1994, a year after the signing of the Oslo I Accords – to take full possession of the Gaza Strip.
When and why was Hamas founded? What is its function ? What role does it play in the governance of the Palestinian Territories? Who are his allies?
David Rigoulet-Roze, specialist in the Middle East and associated researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (Iris), returns, in the video at the top of this article, to the origins and organization of this movement in the process of “Daeshization”.