What Is Hamas? Who Are Its Leaders? What Does It Want?

With an attack on Israel of unprecedented scope on Oct. 7, the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas provoked a major new war. Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel’s destruction, has ruled the Gaza Strip, an isolated Mediterranean enclave that’s home to 2.2 million Palestinians, since 2007. It’s been designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, and its suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis were a factor in the breakdown of peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas’ rival, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). At the same time, Hamas has credibility among many Palestinians for its willingness to continue fighting Israelis.

Hamas named Yahya Sinwar, who the Israelis say was a key mastermind of the Oct. 7 assault, as its new political leader in early August. Thought to be hiding in Gaza, Sinwar, 61, helped found Hamas’ military wing in the late 1980s. Imprisoned by Israeli military authorities for murdering Palestinians collaborating with Israel, he became fluent in Hebrew and knowledgeable about Israeli society while behind bars before being released in 2011 in an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held by Hamas. By 2017, he was the group’s leader for all of Gaza. He played a prominent role in creating an illusion before Oct. 7 that Hamas was limiting its embrace of violence to focus on governance.