Hamas

The Palestinian militant organisation and governing authority in Gaza since 2007. Hamas's October 7 attack triggered the war. Its military wing — the Qassam Brigades — planned and executed the attack; its political bureau, based in Qatar, conducts ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya — Islamic Resistance Movement) was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. It won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 and seized Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, EU, UK, Australia and others; it is supported by Iran. It maintains a parallel political bureau based in Doha, Qatar.