Oct 27 (Reuters) - Following are some facts about the Palestinian group Hamas.
- Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising. It shares the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement established in Egypt in the 1920s. Hamas has an armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.
- Hamas believes the Palestinians must use force of arms, or "armed resistance", in their national struggle with Israel. It opposes the Palestine Liberation Organisation&${esc.hash}39;s strategy of trying to negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The group&${esc.hash}39;s founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Hamas has since said it would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel together with a long-term truce as a "transitional solution". Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, said in an interview with Newsweek published on Oct. 18 that if the two-state solution were ever brought about, his group would "respect the will of the Palestinian people". But Hamas also says it will never recognise Israel&${esc.hash}39;s right to exist on land it deems as Palestinian.
- Due to its hostility towards Israel, Western powers including the United States and the European Union view the group as a terrorist organisation. Hamas launched waves of suicide bombings against Israelis in the 1990s and during the second Intifada, which erupted in 2000.
- Hamas won the last Palestinian legislative elections, held in 2006. Its defeat of the Fatah movement, which dominates the PLO, pushed the Palestinians into a crisis because of the international boycot of Hamas. The Palestinian Authority&${esc.hash}39;s Western sponsors demanded the group renounce violence and recognise Israel. It refused.
- In 2007, Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip in a brief war with security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas accused Abbas of conspiring against it. Abbas describes what happened as a coup. Hamas has deepened its control of the Gaza Strip, building its own bureaucracy and security forces.
- Hamas rule in Gaza survived an Israeli military offensive in 2008-2009. The offensive was triggered by rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. About 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict.
- Hamas is today part of a regional alliance comprising Iran, Syria and the Shi&${esc.hash}39;ite Islamist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which all broadly oppose U.S. policy in the Middle East. The Palestinian Authority has the support of the European Union, the United States and its Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia. Regional politics is one of the factors complicating efforts to reconcile the factions in a way that would reunite the Palestinian territories under one administration. (Writing by Tom Perry)
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