Following the attack of October 7 perpetrated by Hamas militia against Israeli civilians, the Israeli state has set itself the objective of eradicating the Islamist movement, without distinguishing between its political wing – represented not just inside the Palestinian territories but outside them too, notably in Qatar – and its military wing.

The announcement of this objective came at a time when Hamas had just won two victories. The first, in military terms, was the brief defeat of the Israeli defense system, which paved the way for attacks on a scale unprecedented in the history of the Israeli state. The second victory, political in nature, was to push the Palestinian question back to the forefront on the international stage.

Targeted for annihilation by its enemy and classified as a "terrorist organization" by many of Israel's allies, Hamas had never before been able to demonstrate such power. The phase that began on October 7 represents a high point in its history, which can be divided into three iterations. Originally focused on the re-Islamization of Palestinian society, the organization first took a nationalist and then a military turn in 1987. Its entry into politics in 2006 within the framework of institutions inherited from the Oslo peace accords – which it has always rejected – then placed it in violent opposition to the historic nationalist current. The third inflection, which began in 2017, saw Hamas attempt to impose itself at the head of the Palestinian national movement.

The armed struggle

With the loss of Gaza, the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights to Israel, the 1967 Six-day War not only ended in a bitter Arab territorial defeat, it also sounded the death knell for the pan-Arab socialism that was embodied by Egypt's charismatic president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the revival of militant Islam.

At the forefront of this movement, the Muslim Brotherhood had settled in Mandatory Palestine on the eve of the British departure in 1948. They embraced the Palestinian national cause and gained influence. Various associations flourished, including Al-Moujamaa Al-Islami, "the Islamic Center" – founded in 1973 in Gaza by 37-year-old quadriplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Its mission was the re-Islamization of Palestinian society, which was seen as a prerequisite to any other project.

Initially refraining from any anti-Israeli activism, the Islamic Center benefited from the Israeli occupier's indulgence, who hoped that its influence would undermine that of the "nationalists" of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). As a result, it was able to collect zakat (the tax levied on Muslims), take control of numerous mosques and develop a vast charitable network that established a reputation for efficiency and probity.

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