The 37th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, the Arabic acronym for "Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya" (Islamic Resistance Movement), was recently marked. Hamas was officially founded by the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gaza Strip, led by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a few days after the outbreak of the First Intifada in December 1987. Since then, the Palestinian terrorist organization and the State of Israel have a long history of bloody conflict that culminated in the attack of October 7, 2023.
The eruption of the uprising caused Yassin and his men to fear losing the support of the Palestinian street to the PLO and other organizations if they did not join the struggle against Israel. Therefore, they decided to establish Hamas and concentrate on the armed struggle, and in fact they conducted open competition mainly with the PLO for leadership of the intifada. The status of Yassin, who became, among other things, an arbitrator after the intifada undermined the local judicial system in the Gaza Strip that was established with Israeli assistance, has been significantly strengthened. And under his leadership, Hamas became the largest organization in the Gaza Strip, mainly at the expense of Fatah.
Israel was quick to act against Hamas when over a hundred of its members were arrested during 1988. However, then-Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin decided not to arrest Sheikh Yassin. The fear was that Yassin's arrest would be interpreted as an indication that Israel was acting against Islam and persecuting religious figures, a move that would lead to escalation. Only in May 1989, after it became clear that Yassin had ordered the continuation of the armed struggle and terrorist activities, was it decided to arrest him along with over 500 of his men, including Mahmoud al-Zahar. Following the arrest operation, the involvement of Yahya Sinwar, who was first arrested in 1988 after preparing a homemade bomb with the aim of harming IDF soldiers, became apparent. During his interrogation, Sinwar admitted that he was the commander of the Al-Majd forces, Hamas' internal security apparatus, and that he personally murdered 12 Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
The May 1989 arrest operation carried out by the IDF and Shin Bet against Hamas was the first time the Israeli public became aware of the existence of the murderous Palestinian terrorist organization. The background was the kidnapping and murder of two IDF soldiers, Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon, by Hamas terrorists. During his interrogation, it turned out that Yassin was ordered to kidnap soldiers and he was sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 years in an Israeli prison. The arrest of Yassin and members of the movement severely damaged Hamas. In order to rebuild Hamas' organizational infrastructure, the organization's political bureau chief, Mousa Abu Marzook, arrived in Gaza in June 1989. Abu Marzook brought with him hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance the organization, which led to Hamas' center of gravity shifting the Gaza Strip to abroad. At the end of September 1989, Israel took another step against Hamas when it decided to outlaw the organization in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This was also the first time the Israeli public was exposed to the Hamas charter, which, as stated, called for the destruction of Israel.
In conclusion, it was only in mid-1989 that Israel began to realize that a murderous Islamic organization had arisen in Judea and Samaria. Unlike the PLO, Hamas gives the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a religious aspect and calls in the name of Islam for the end of the Jewish state in the Middle East. However, it seemed that not everyone in Israel had perceived the danger inherent in Hamas. In practice, Israel missed an opportunity to imprison for many years most of those who later executed terrorist attacks against Jews. At the time, the prosecution made ridiculous plea deals with senior Hamas figures, including Emad Akel, who became Hamas' military wing chief in the early 1990s. After his release, Akel was responsible for the murder of 11 IDF soldiers and an Israeli civilian. Another terrorist that every Israeli knows is Muhammed Deif, the mastermind behind the October 7 massacre. Either way, the struggle against Hamas continues to accompany the State of Israel to this day, with no end in sight.
