What Is Hamas?

~ Đào Thu Hằng ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

cfr.org

The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern Gaza and remains committed to violently resisting Israel. Its surprise attack against Israel in 2023 threatens a wider conflagration in the Middle East.

WRITTEN BY Kali Robinson UPDATED Last updated October 9, 2023 1:27 pm (EST)

Summary

  • A spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s, the Islamist militant group Hamas took over the Gaza Strip after defeating its rival political party, Fatah, in elections in 2006.
  • The United States and European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its armed resistance against Israel, which has included suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
  • Israel has declared war on Hamas following its surprise assault on southern Israel in 2023, the deadliest attack on the country in decades.

Introduction

What are the group’s origins?

Who are its leaders?

How is Hamas funded?

How does it govern Gaza?

How do Palestinians view Hamas?

How has Hamas challenged Israel?

How is Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 different?

Recommended Resources

Introduction

Hamas is an Islamist militant movement and one of the Palestinian territories’ two major political parties. It governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the group is best known for its armed resistance to Israel. In October 2023, Hamas launched a massive surprise attack on southern Israel, killing hundreds of civilians and soldiers and taking dozens more as hostages. Israel has declared war on the group in response and indicated its military is planning for a long campaign to defeat it. 

Dozens of countries have designated Hamas a terrorist organization, though some apply this label only to its military wing. Iran provides it with material and financial support, and Turkey reportedly harbors some of its top leaders. Its rival party, Fatah, which dominates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and rules in the West Bank, has renounced violence. The split in Palestinian leadership and Hamas’s unwavering hostility toward Israel have diminished prospects for stability in Gaza.

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Questions and Answers: October 2023 Hostilities between Israel and Palestinian Armed Groups

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HRW

The following questions and answers (Q&A) address issues relating to international humanitarian law (the laws of war) governing current hostilities between Israel and Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. The purpose is to facilitate analysis of the conduct of all parties involved in the conflict with the aim of deterring violations of the laws of war and encouraging accountability for abuses.

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What we know: The number of foreigners killed, missing, abducted in Israel

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Citizens and dual nationals from more than 20 countries were killed or remain missing following violence in Israel.

AL JAZEERA

Students hold placards demanding Nepalese government ensure the safe return of stranded students and light candles in Patan Durbar Square, Lalitpur, Nepal, as they pay tribute to Nepali nationals who lost their lives in the fighting in Israel, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Ten Nepali nationals have been killed in fighting in Israel and at least one more is missing, Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said. An unknown number of others were wounded in the violence, it added. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Students hold placards and candles in Patan Durbar Square, Lalitpur, Nepal, as they pay tribute to Nepali nationals who lost their lives in the fighting in Israel, on Monday, October 9, 2023 [Niranjan Shrestha/AP]

Published On 10 Oct 202310 Oct 2023

Dozens of foreigners have been reported killed, missing or taken hostage following the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas fighters over the weekend.

More than 900 people have been killed in Israel and over 700 killed in retaliatory attacks on Gaza by Israeli forces so far.

Many of the foreigners killed and missing were attending an electronic music festival in the southern Israeli desert on Saturday when the Hamas attack began.

This is what we know of the foreign and dual-national casualties as well as those still missing.

Argentina: Seven dead, 15 missing

Argentina’s foreign minister Santiago Cafiero said on Monday that seven Argentinians were killed during the attacks in Israel and 15 more remain missing. Approximately 625 Argentinian nationals in Israel have also requested repatriation, the minister said.

Austria: Three missing

Three Austrian-Israeli dual citizens could be among those abducted, Austria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “Three Austrian-Israeli dual citizens who recently stayed in southern Israel independently of each other could also be among the many international abductees. There is currently no official confirmation,” the ministry said.

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At least 15 people are killed when a bomb brought home by children explodes in eastern Congo

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A community leader says at least 15 people are dead after a group of children brought home an explosive device they had found while playing

ABCnews.go.com

ByJUSTIN KABUMBA Associated Press October 8, 2023, 12:11 AM

GOMA, Congo — At least 15 people were killed in eastern Congo after a group of children brought home an explosive device that they had found while they were playing, a community leader said Saturday.

The tragedy took place Friday evening in the village of Kyangitsi, located in Masisi territory in North Kivu province.

“At around 8 p.m. local time, while some of the residents were trying to find out what it was, the bomb exploded,” said Telesphore Mitondeke, a member of a Masisi grouping of civil society organizations.

For the past two weeks, the region has been the scene of hostilities between local armed groups vying for control of villages.

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Another major earthquake shakes Afghanistan days after thousands killed

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Quake strikes same area where Saturday’s tremors left over 2,400 dead

Independent. co.uk https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/UM9dIJ53

Another strong earthquake shook parts of western Afghanistan where a temblor on Saturday killed more than 2,400 people.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded early morning on Wednesday near Herat province, according to the US Geological Survey.

The epicentre of the quake was about 28km outside Herat city – the capital of Herat province – at a depth of 10km.

No information was immediately available about damage from Wednesday’s earthquake.

The epicentre of Saturday’s deadly quake was also about 40km northwest of the provincial capital and several aftershocks were recorded.

Taliban officials said more than 2,400 people had died across Herat after the earlier quakes that laid entire villages to waste with many people trapped in rubble.

With little to no international help and resources, Afghans have been struggling to dig through the rubble even after days. The city of Herat just has one hospital, as survivors struggled to get medical care with many left homeless ahead of a harsh winter.

In Naib Rafi, a village that previously had about 2,500 residents, the Associated Press reported that “almost no one was still alive” besides men who were working outside when the quake struck. Survivors worked all day with excavators to dig long trenches for mass burials.

“It is very difficult to find a family member from a destroyed house and a few minutes to later bury him or her in a nearby grave, again under the ground,” Mir Agha, a resident from the city of Herat who had joined hundreds of volunteers to help the locals, told the news agency.

Nearly 2,000 houses in 20 villages were destroyed, the Taliban have said. The area hit by the quake has just one government-run hospital.

According to a WHO report, an estimated 12,110 people (1,730 families) in five districts Zindajan, Injil, Gulran, Injil and Khosan in Herat province have been impacted by the earthquake.

This devastation comes a year after an earthquake killed over 1,000 people in Afghanistan.

 

China’s New $6B Railway in Laos: Massive Debt Trap or Megaproject Success?

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A $6 billion Chinese-built railway in Laos is transforming a small town on the border of China, easing transportation and promising new products for export. The 262-mile rail line is a key part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at upgrading trade and transport networks from Africa to the Pacific. China is looking to link its companies with new overseas markets while Laos has hopes of growing a robust export market. But what are the costs of developing this massive infrastructure? WSJ explores the ambition behind China’s envisioned rail network, the economic implications for Laos and challenges as other railways eye development.

How carbon prices are taking over the world

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A quarter of global emissions are now covered, and the share is rising fast

A lump of coal penned-in by barcodes
image: matt chase

economist.com Oct 1st 2023

If global warming is to be limited, the world must forget fossil fuels as fast as possible—that much almost everyone agrees upon. How to do so is the complicated part. Economists have long favoured putting a price on carbon, a mechanism Europe introduced in 2005. Doing so allows the market to identify the cheapest unit of greenhouse gas to cut, and thus society to fight climate change at the lowest cost. Others, including many American politicians, worry that such schemes will provoke a backlash by raising consumer costs. Under President Joe Biden, America is instead doling out hundreds of billions of dollars to turn supply chains green.

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Quảng Ninh makes effort to preserve old fishing villages in Hạ Long Bay

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October 10, 2023 – 08:31

Listen to the article here

Urgent action is needed to breath new life into Cửa Vạn and Vung Viêng fishing villages.

A view of conservation area of Vung Viêng fishing village in Hạ Long Bay. VNA/VNS Photo

QUẢNG NINH – Cửa Vạn and Vung Viêng, two renowned fishing villages located in Hạ Long Bay in northern Quảng Ninh Province, are facing severe deterioration, with some structures slowly sinking into the sea.

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Dengue will ‘take off’ in southern Europe, US, Africa this decade, WHO scientist says

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By Jennifer Rigby October 6, 2023

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Dengue fever will become a major threat in the southern United States, southern Europe and new parts of Africa this decade, the WHO’s chief scientist said, as warmer temperatures create the conditions for the mosquitoes carrying the infection to spread.

The illness has long been a scourge in much of Asia and Latin America, causing an estimated 20,000 deaths each year. Rates of the disease have already risen eight-fold globally since 2000, driven largely by climate change as well as the increased movement of people and urbanization.

Many cases go unrecorded, but in 2022 4.2 million cases were reported worldwide and public health officials have warned that near-record levels of transmission are expected this year. Bangladesh is currently experiencing its worst-ever outbreak, with more than 1,000 deaths.

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6 reasons why global temperatures are spiking right now

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conversation.com

The world is very warm right now. We’re not only seeing record temperatures, but the records are being broken by record-wide margins.

Take the preliminary September global-average temperature anomaly of 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels, for example. It’s an incredible 0.5°C above the previous record.

A chart showing global temperature anomalies, with September 2023 a clear standout
The preliminary September global temperature is well above every previous value in the instrumental record. Copernicus

So why is the world so incredibly hot right now? And what does it mean for keeping our Paris Agreement targets?

Here are six contributing factors – with climate change the main reason temperatures are so high.

1. El Niño

One reason for the exceptional heat is we are in a significant El Niño that is still strengthening. During El Niño we see warming of the surface ocean over much of the tropical Pacific. This warming, and the effects of El Niño in other parts of the world, raises global average temperatures by about 0.1 to 0.2°C.

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The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins

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theconversation.com

There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas.

In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed, more than 2,000 injured, and many taken hostage.

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The lessons from Hamas’s assault on Israel

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economist.com Oct 8th 2023

Two decades of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians have gone up in flames

image: ap

It is hard to see past the shock of Hamas’s bloodthirsty assault on Israel. That is because it involved thousands of rockets, and fighters attacking the south of the country by land, sea and air. And because it was completely unforeseen despite its scale, inflicting a humiliating blow against Israel’s vaunted intelligence services. But most of all because of the killing of hundreds of innocent people and the taking of scores of hostages by Hamas. As the Israel Defence Forces (idf) ponder how to respond, the world’s attention will be caught up in their desperate plight.

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40,000 victims seek justice in billion-dollar Vạn Thịnh Phát bond fraud case

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October 09, 2023 – 08:44

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An 87-year-old man came to the Bình Thạnh District Police in HCM City last Monday morning to report a fraud related to bonds allegedly committed by one of Việt Nam’s largest property developers.

Trần Bữu Nữu, an officer belonging to the Bình Thạnh District police in HCM City, helps a victim make a complaint against Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) where she had bought the bonds. VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp
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