Hamas, Arabic acronym for Anti-Islamic Movement, founded in 1987, during the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since 2007 – two years after Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza – he has been the de facto ruler of the Strip, after winning the 2006 elections with an absolute majority and ousting Fatah, the founding nucleus of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
It has launched four wars against Israel, in addition to being behind suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations and launching rockets against Israel. He led the attack on Saturday. According to Israeli intelligence, its financiers in recent years have been Qatar and Iran, which have largely supported its military arm, the Ezedín al Qasam brigades. Both states deny this.
Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad is the second jihadist group in Gaza. Like Hamas, it seeks to destroy Israel and participated in Saturday’s offensive. It was founded in the Strip in 1981 and was inspired by the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran in 1979. It is a close ally of Tehran, its main financier, according to Israel’s intelligence services.
Hezbollah (Lebanon)
she Party of God, its name in Arabic, is a powerful Lebanese Shiite movement founded in 1982 in response to Israel’s invasion of that country. Hezbollah is more than a party and a militia. Over the years, it has become the dominant political actor in Lebanon, where it has established what some analysts call “a state within a state.” Its military power, believed to be superior to the conventional Lebanese army, allowed it to continue a long war with Israel in 2006. It was also financed by Iran and, in fact, became the foreign policy arm of that country in the region, according to analysts. Israel and the United States fear that Hezbollah will open a new war front against Israel in the north, especially if the Israeli army invades Gaza by land.
The Lion’s Den (West Bank)
Earlier this year, a new militia of young Palestinians in their 20s carried out several small attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Its name is the Lion’s Den (Arin al Usud, in Arabic). It emerged in Nablus, in the northern West Bank.
