Hamas, the 2006 election and the split with Fatah
Hamas wins Palestinian legislative elections, is boycotted by Israel and the West, and after fighting with Fatah seizes control of Gaza, which Israel and Egypt then blockade.
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance — Tareq Baconi, Stanford University Press (2018)
- Hamas: A Beginner's Guide — Khaled Hroub, Pluto Press (2010)
- The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development — Sara Roy, Institute for Palestine Studies (2016)
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, was founded in Gaza in December 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. It combined social welfare, Islamist politics and armed struggle, including the suicide bombings of the 1990s and 2000s. Its 1988 charter called for an Islamic state in all of Palestine; a 2017 policy document accepted a state on the 1967 lines as a “national consensus” without recognising Israel.
- Hamas: A Beginner's Guide — Khaled Hroub, Pluto Press (2010)
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance — Tareq Baconi, Stanford University Press (2018)
In January 2006 Hamas won 74 of 132 seats in Palestinian legislative elections, campaigning against Fatah corruption. Israel, the US and the EU demanded it recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past agreements, and cut off aid when it refused. A unity government collapsed into fighting, and in June 2007 Hamas took control of Gaza, while President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah kept the West Bank.
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance — Tareq Baconi, Stanford University Press (2018)
Israel, with Egypt, tightened a blockade on Gaza’s borders. Wars followed in 2008–09, 2012, 2014 and 2021, each killing hundreds or thousands of Palestinians and smaller numbers of Israelis, before the catastrophe that began in 2023. Reconciliation deals between Fatah and Hamas have repeatedly been signed and never implemented.
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance — Tareq Baconi, Stanford University Press (2018)
- The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development — Sara Roy, Institute for Palestine Studies (2016)
Hamas supporters say they won a free election and were denied the right to govern by a Western-backed coup attempt; Fatah supporters call the 2007 takeover a bloody coup. Many Palestinians reject both.
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance — Tareq Baconi, Stanford University Press (2018)
- Hamas: A Beginner's Guide — Khaled Hroub, Pluto Press (2010)
Hamas is a terrorist organisation whose founding charter calls for Israel's destruction and contains antisemitic passages; Israel could not deal with it, and the blockade was needed to stop weapons reaching Gaza.
- Israel: A History — Anita Shapira, Brandeis University Press (2012)
- Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance — Tareq Baconi, Stanford University Press (2018)
The blockade amounted to collective punishment of Gaza's civilians, crippling its economy and leaving most residents dependent on aid long before 2023.
- The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development — Sara Roy, Institute for Palestine Studies (2016)
- Reported Impact Snapshot: Gaza Strip — UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA oPt), United Nations (2026)
Why it matters today
The split between a Fatah-run West Bank and a Hamas-run Gaza has paralysed Palestinian politics for nearly twenty years. No national election has been held since, and many Palestinians blame both factions for putting power before the national cause.