history of an organization
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › History_of_Hamas
History of Hamas - Wikipedia
1 week ago - Hamas's military branch, the Izz ... was created in 1991. The Brigades' objectives are subordinate to the political goals of Hamas, however, they operate with a significant degree of independence. Hamas killed an Israeli border guard in December 1992. Hamas first began specifically targeting civilians in suicide attacks in response to the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre carried out by the ...
Family origins outside the Gaza StripEarly Islamic activism in GazaThe founding of HamasThe 1990sThe Second Intifada2004 – Negotiation Attempts2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement planJanuary 2006 – Winning the legislative electionHamas-Fatah conflictAllegations of Israeli support for HamasBrief timeline
Institute for Palestine Studies
palestine-studies.org › en › node › 42577
The Origins of Hamas: Militant Legacy or Israeli Tool? | Institute for Palestine Studies
Since its creation in 1987, Hamas has been at the forefront of armed resistance in the occupied Palestinian territories. While the movement itself claims an unbroken militancy in Palestine dating back to 1935, others credit post-1967 maneuvers of Israeli Intelligence for its establishment.
In the News
Reddit
reddit.com › r/npr › hamas was created by israeli intelligence.
r/NPR on Reddit: Hamas was created by Israeli intelligence.
November 10, 2023 -
I remember a report on NPR, years ago, about a female Israeli journalist whose investigation proved that Hamas was created by Israeli intelligence. The reporter was subsequently murdered and her work is virtually impossible to dig up. Does anyone know what I'm referring to? Is this a Mandela effect?
Edit: In all honesty I meant to place a question mark at the end of the headline. This wasn't meant as a pro-Hamas pot stirrer. Most Palestinians aren't Hamas. Most Iraelis aren't hardline Zionists. Keeping this in mind, it is not anti-semitic to be anti-zionist. I truly do appreciate all the contributions made here. I am still convinced that I heard the report about the female Israeli journalist. Perhaps it was from a different source. Above all, peace.
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For over a decade, Israel facilitated the transfer of 10's of millions of dollars of funds from Qatar to Hamas as a method of ensuring that Gaza and the West Bank would remain under separate governing authorities. Gaza under Hamas and the West Bank under the Palastinian Authority in order to guarantee that there could be no progress towards a Palastinian state. Netenyahu and other Zionist government party leaders have openly talked about this policy for years.
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Reminds me of Ulfric Stormcloak being a secret agent of the thalmar.
Videos
06:12
Blowback: How Israel Helped Create Hamas - YouTube
04:27
How Israel Inadvertently Created Hamas | Vantage with Palki Sharma ...
01:09
Rashid Khalidi: How Israel Created Hamas and Hezbollah. - YouTube
02:46
Did Israel Create Hamas? - YouTube
10:38
Did Israel & US Create Hamas? The Hidden History Behind Hamas | ...
01:12:58
'Israel created Hamas, but we won't label it a terror group': In ...
DNI
dni.gov › nctc › groups › hamas.html
Palestinian militant group Hamas
HAMAS formed in late 1987 at the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada (uprising). Its roots are in the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and it is supported by a robust sociopolitical structure inside the Palestinian territories. The group’s charter calls for establishing ...
The Electronic Intifada
electronicintifada.net › content › debunking-lie-israel-created-hamas › 51350
Debunking the lie that “Israel created Hamas” | The Electronic Intifada
April 16, 2026 - This was compounded by Andrew Higgins’ 2009 article for The Wall Street Journal titled “How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas.” · That piece quotes Avner Cohen, an Israeli official responsible for “religious affairs” in Gaza at the time of Hamas’ ascendance, who remarks that “Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation.” Paraphrasing Cohen, Higgins states that Israel “for years tolerated and, in some cases, encouraged” the Islamic Movement in Gaza as a supposed counterweight to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/askhistory › is hamas a creation of israel or not?
r/AskHistory on Reddit: Is Hamas a creation of Israel or not?
November 22, 2023 -
I've seen a lot of claims like this online. To my surprise I did find evidence of past Israeli officials admitting to supporting Hamas in the beginning for standard divide n conquer tactics within the Palestinian community. But nothing to suggest they are the brainchild of Israel itself (Im aware of the nuances between support vs creation).
If you've studied colonization tactics, the Iraq war (many wars), or even the dismantling of pro black civil rights groups throughout history you know that this kind of tactic is common.
But I'm tired of reading and parsing through information and seeking outside (reddit) opinions. If it is true, why isn't it talked about more?
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Hamas was created in the late 1980s as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. What you’re hearing alluded to is the efforts admitted by a number of Israeli officials to fund Hamas early on as a potential counterweight to the PLO, who prior to the last Palestinian election were the largest militant arm of the Palestinians (and had been for many years). Long story short: that strategy backfired pretty hard, but no, Hamas wasn’t “created” by Israel.
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Hamas was founded in 1987 as a Palestinian off-shoot of the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood. In the same time period, Israel put funding into the construction of mosques and community centers in the Palestinian Territories to be used by Palestinians. Hamas used those mosques and centers as a place to meet and organize. After Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, and was no longer merely an armed terrorist group, but an actual government, there were different strategies as to how to deal with them. There was a natural antagonism between Hamas and Fatah, and while some Israeli politicians considered that advantageous, some did not. Obviously, when Hamas was launching attacks on Israel, the response was typically to fight back until Hamas sued for a ceasefire. Other times there was a thought that giving economic incentives (work permits, power, purified water, food, medicine) to Gaza would lead to Hamas moderating it's behavior, or at least placing some restraint on its military attacks (this was a policy that Netanyahu typically favored, as did much of the international community, but we see how that worked out on October 7th.) Now, the same politician, or government, could easily cycle through all of these positions. But in short, Israel did not create Hamas, but the relationship between Israel and Hamas is more complex than the plot of the typical action movie.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Hamas
Hamas - Wikipedia
4 hours ago - It emerged from his 1973 Mujama al-Islamiya Islamic charity affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Initially, Hamas was discreetly supported by Israel, as a counter-balance to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Israeli_support_for_Hamas
Israeli support for Hamas - Wikipedia
3 weeks ago - David Hacham, who worked in Gaza ... in the Israeli military in the late 1980s and early 1990s stated, "When I look back at the chain of events, I think we made a mistake. But at the time, nobody thought about the possible results." Similar statements have been made by Yasser Arafat. For example, in an interview with Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera in December 2001, he referred to Hamas as a "creature of ...
Israel Policy Forum
israelpolicyforum.org › home › what is hamas?
What Is Hamas?
July 8, 2025 - In 1987, amid the First Intifada (a violent popular Palestinian uprising against Israel), Hamas was founded as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
Israelinstitute
israelinstitute.nz › home › editorials › how hamas was founded — and why the “israel created it” narrative...
How Hamas Was Founded — and Why the “Israel Created It” Narrative Fails | Israel Institute of NZ
November 23, 2025 - The founding date commonly given is December 14, 1987, when, according to many accounts, Colonel David Hacham of the IDF in Gaza was informed of a handout circulating in Gaza announcing a new Palestinian movement (Hamas, short for Ḥarakat ...
Middle East Monitor
middleeastmonitor.com › 20231115-did-israel-create-hamas
Did Israel create Hamas? – Middle East Monitor
November 15, 2023 - Claims by the Israelis that they helped Hamas to grow, to divide the Palestinian national movement is not proof that Hamas was created by Israel. It is a well-known fact that all colonial forces tried to play the game of divide and conquer to ...
PBS
pbs.org › newshour › world › what-is-hamas-what-to-know-about-its-origins-leaders-and-funding
What is Hamas? What to know about its origins, leaders and funding | PBS News
October 13, 2023 - The political bifurcation of the West Bank and Gaza is widely unpopular: a June 2023 poll [PDF] by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) showed that one-third of Palestinians consider it the most damaging development for their people since the state of Israel's 1948 creation. The same poll found that more than half of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank would vote for Hamas's Haniyeh over PA President Mahmoud Abbas in a presidential election, while just one-third of Palestinians would choose Abbas.
The Business Standard
tbsnews.net › home › hamas-israel war
How Israel went from helping 'create' Hamas to bombing it | The Business Standard
October 14, 2023 - In a startling revelation, Avner Cohen, a former Israeli official who worked in religious affairs in Gaza for over twenty years, told the Wall Street Journal, "Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel's creation."
TIME
time.com › history › made by history › what the world can learn from the history of hamas
What the World Can Learn From the History of Hamas
October 17, 2023 - In 1982 and 1983, an Israeli military operation chased the PLO from Lebanon to Tunis—far from Israel’s borders. Israel’s military campaign, however, spawned the creation of a Shi’a resistance group in Lebanon called Hizballah, which later inspired the creation of Hamas.
NPR
npr.org › 2026 › 05 › 31 › nx-s1-5837292 › israel-is-extending-its-footprint-through-war-for-some-its-part-of-a-greater-plan
Israel is extending its footprint through war. For some, it's part of a greater plan : NPR
May 31, 2026 - ESTRIN: "In Lebanon, Syria and in Gaza," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech, "we have created security zones deep beyond our borders." In another speech, he said this was Israel's comeback after being attacked by Hamas and then by Hezbollah in October 2023. ... NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew). ESTRIN: "Instead of them surprising us, we are surprising them," Netanyahu said. "We have changed our security concept. We initiate, we attack, and we have created three security zones deep within enemy territory." Some ultranationalist Israelis see this through the lens of the Bible. Take this Israeli TV interview. ... NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew). UNIDENTIFIED INTERVIEWER: (Speaking Hebrew). ESTRIN: A right-wing talk show host gives Netanyahu a piece of jewelry shaped with the borders of what's called greater Israel, land stretching from the Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates in Iraq, the land God promised Abraham in the Book of Genesis.
CIAO
ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu › journals › jps › v41i3 › f_0025591_20939.pdf pdf
The Origins of Hamas: Militant Legacy or Israeli Tool?
The second interpretation basically depicts Hamas as a “golem,” a · creature in Jewish folklore fashioned from mud and made animate who · ultimately escapes his master. While the specific analogy was coined by · an Israeli advisor to the Israeli occupation authorities in Gaza,5 it accu- rately reflects the widely held belief that Hamas was created by the Israeli ·
Mail Online
dailymail.com › news › article-15891589 › Brutal-methods-Hamas-use-strike-fear-Palestinians-including-public-executions-kneecappings-bone-breaking-concrete-bricks-outlined-report.html
Brutal methods Hamas use to strike fear into Palestinians including public executions, kneecappings and bone-breaking with concrete bricks are outlined in UN report | Daily Mail Online
1 month ago - Srinivasan Muralidhar, the UN commission's chairman, said the abuses documented in Gaza were occurring in an 'environment engineered by Israel', where 'Hamas-affiliated forces have exploited the vacuum created by relentless Israeli attacks and widespread destruction'. Those targeted included anti-Hamas activists and members of Israel-backed clans and armed groups that emerged in areas where Hamas's grip weakened during the war, which has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry. The UN report cites executions recorded on video, including one of three blindfolded men who were shot by masked men outside Shifa Hospital in September 2025 before a crowd. It describes another public execution a month later, when eight men were dragged into a public square in Gaza City and shot. Both groups were accused of being spies, traitors and collaborators, according to the report.
Ssimovement
ssimovement.org › uploads › 2 › 3 › 8 › 3 › 23838525 › left_claim_israel_created_hamas.pdf pdf
ISRAEL 'CREATED' HAMAS LEFT-WING CLAIM: 'ISRAEL CREATED HAMAS'
shows Israel designed, financed, or directed Hamas as a proxy. Some Israeli authorities in the · 1970s-1980s permitted or overlooked Islamist social/charitable activity (perceived then as a · counterweight to the PLO), which may have unintentionally enabled the movement's infrastructure. That does not amount to 'creation' or control.
Middle East Institute
mei.edu › home › hamas
Hamas - Middle East Institute
February 25, 2026 - Hamas was founded by Palestinian cleric Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who had previously been active in local branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as the brotherhood’s political arm in Gaza.