Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched an attack inside Israel on Oct. 7, killing hundreds and taking others hostage, leading Israel to declare war on Hamas the next day. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians, have died since Oct. 7. Hamas’s unprecedented breach of the border sent fighters inside border communities and military installations, shocked Israel and its allies, and raised questions about the group’s capabilities and strategy.
The group was founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian refugee living in Gaza, during the first intifada, or uprising, which was marked by widespread protests against Israel’s occupation.
Hamas is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, and a recognition of the group’s roots and early ties to one of the Sunni world’s most prominent groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in the 1920s.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
The group has vowed to annihilate Israel and has been responsible for many suicide bombings and other deadly attacks on civilians and Israeli soldiers.
The US State Department designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997. The European Union and other Western countries also consider it a terrorist organization.
Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections and in 2007 violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority, dominated by rival Fatah movement, administers semi-autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Photo: Gringer /Wikimedia Commons 照片：Gringer /維基共享資源
Israel responded to the Hamas takeover with a blockade on Gaza, restricting movement of people and goods in and out of the territory in a step it says is needed to keep the group from developing weapons. The blockade has ravaged Gaza’s economy, and Palestinians accuse Israel of collective punishment.
Over the years, Hamas received backing from Arab countries, such as Qatar and Turkey. Recently, it’s moved closer to Iran and its allies.
Hamas has always espoused violence as a means to liberate occupied Palestinian territories and has called for the annihilation of Israel.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
In recent years, Israel has made peace deals with Arab countries without having to make concessions in its conflict with the Palestinians. The US has recently been trying to broker a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a bitter rival of Hamas’ Iranian backers.
Meanwhile, Israel’s new far-right government was working to cement Israeli settlements in the West Bank despite Palestinian opposition.
Hamas leaders say an Israeli crackdown on militants in the West Bank, continued construction of settlements — which the international community considers to be illegal — thousands of prisoners in Israeli jails, and its ongoing blockade of Gaza pushed it to attack.
(AP)
自2007年起控制加薩走廊的哈瑪斯，10月7日在以色列境內發動攻擊，殺害數百人並劫持人質，讓以色列在次日向哈瑪斯宣戰。10月7日以來，已有數千名以色列人及巴勒斯坦人喪生。哈瑪斯前所未有地突破邊境侵入以色列，派遣武裝分子進入邊境社區與軍事設施，震驚了以色列及其盟友，並引發對哈瑪斯能力與戰略的質疑。
該組織由居住在加薩的巴勒斯坦難民謝赫‧艾哈邁德‧亞辛於1987年成立，時值第一次巴勒斯坦大起義，這是一系列反對以色列佔領的抗議。
哈瑪斯為阿拉伯文「伊斯蘭抵抗運動」之縮寫，是向其源頭及早期與穆斯林兄弟會（遜尼派世界最知名組織之一，1920年代在埃及成立）之聯繫致意。
該組織誓言消滅以色列，並發動了多起自殺式爆炸及其他針對平民和以色列士兵的死亡攻擊。
美國國務院在1997年將哈瑪斯列為恐怖組織，歐盟等西方國家也視其為恐怖組織。
哈瑪斯贏得了2006年議會選舉，並在2007年以暴力從國際承認的巴勒斯坦自治政府手中奪取了對加薩走廊的控制權。巴勒斯坦自治政府是由競爭對手法塔赫運動〔巴勒斯坦民族解放運動〕所主導，管理以色列佔領的約旦河西岸半自治地區。
對於哈瑪斯的接管，以色列的回應是封鎖加薩，限制人員及貨物進出該地區，以色列稱此為防止哈瑪斯開發武器的必要措施。封鎖摧毀了加薩的經濟，巴勒斯坦人指責這是以色列對他們的集體懲罰。
多年來，哈瑪斯得到了卡達、土耳其等阿拉伯國家的支持，最近則向伊朗及其盟友靠攏。
哈瑪斯一直主張以暴力作為解放被佔領巴勒斯坦領土之手段，並呼籲消滅以色列。
以色列近年與阿拉伯國家達成和平協議，但在與巴勒斯坦的衝突中卻沒有讓步。美國最近一直試圖遊說以色列與沙烏地阿拉伯達成協議，沙烏地阿拉伯是哈瑪斯支持者伊朗的死對頭。
同時，以色列新的極右派政府不顧巴勒斯坦反對，正努力鞏固以色列在約旦河西岸的屯墾區。
哈瑪斯領導人表示，以色列對約旦河西岸武裝分子之鎮壓、繼續修建屯墾區（國際社會認為這是非法的）、以色列監獄關押的數千名囚犯、以色列對加薩的持續封鎖，是其發動攻擊的原因。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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