Profile: The militant group was formed in 1987 at the outset of the first intifada, and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007
Hamas, meaning zeal in Arabic, provided aid to Palestine’s poor and established its military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades, which expanded Hamas’s role in the intifada. Hamas adopted an uncompromising charter that rejected peace with Israel and called for an Islamic state in all Palestine.
The failure of PLO-Israeli negotiations launched the second intifada . Fatah and Hamas attacked Israeli troops and carried out bombings against Israeli targets. In 2005, Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza, then governed by Fatah. A 2011 attempt by Hamas and Fatah to form an interim government of independents in advance of elections failed. In 2014, the sides signed a reconciliation agreement and formed a unity coalition of technocrats approved by both. This government was dissolved in 2015 by president Mahmoud Abbas, who argued it could not operate in Hamas-held Gaza.
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