The Islamic Resistance Movement, better known by its acronym Hamas, is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization. Hamas was founded in 1987, shortly after the start of the First Intifada, serving as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Hamas was headquartered in the Gaza Strip, and it was hostile to both Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Starting in the First Intifada, Hamas waged war on Israel with its armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and the brigades employed suicide bombings as a tactic; in 2001, Hamas began to launch rocket attacks on Israel. Hamas murdered Israeli civilians in terrorist attacks for several decades, with the Second Intifada of 2000-2005 seeing a spike in Hamas activity. In 2007, tensions between Hamas and Fatah over control of Palestine's security forces led to Hamas taking over the Gaza Strip, while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then blockaded Gaza due to its terrorist takeover, and Hamas and Fatah were forced to reconcile in 2011. On 3 May 2017, Hamas decided to revise its views, saying that it accepted the 1967 borders, but did not recognize Israel. It also claimed to have renounced anti-Semitism, but it remained effectively anti-Semitic despite this announcement.
