Hamas

Hamas (an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al- Islamiya, or the Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian political and militant movement founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who preached and coordinated charitable work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt. Yassin, who had worked in the region for the Muslim Brotherhood since 1973, established Hamas as a local political wing of the organization following the outbreak of the first intifada in December 1987. The organization of Hamas is split among three main pursuits: (1) the political wing, (2) the military wing, and (3) a charitable and social work wing. Hamas is currently the party in [Page 619]power in the Gaza Strip region of the Palestinian Authority and has ...