Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement)
Palestinian armed group & governing authority in Gaza · Gaza Strip · est. 1987
Led the Oct 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel and governs Gaza. Organizational documents and officials quoted in this record are cited in war-crimes and intent analyses; Hamas disputes genocide framing.
Mixed — regional state support, taxation, and clandestine networks (exact financing disputed).
Part of the broader Palestinian national movement; designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU, and others.
Charter and official statements are firsthand organizational rhetoric; investigators treat them as evidence of intent alongside conduct on the ground.
Not an open membership organization. Leadership sits in internal bodies (e.g., political bureau, shura council) selected through Hamas's internal processes — not public elections. Military and political wings operate under this structure. There are no public dues or member votes on policy.
Leadership & members
- Ghazi HamadPolitical bureau member
Named individuals reflect leadership at the time of writing; linked names have individual profiles in this record. See membership & leadership above for how they are selected.
People profiled in this record
On the record
Verbatim quotations in this project attributed to this body or its officials.
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again. The Al-Aqsa Flood is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7 targeted the Israeli military sites.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“If there was any case of targeting civilians; it happened accidently and in the course of the confrontation.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“On October 7, October 10, October 1,000,000 — everything we do is justified.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
Case: october 7 israelis 2023 →“There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad.”
Cases in this record
Sources & disclosures
- 1988 Covenant (English) — Yale Avalon Project
- 2017 Document of General Principles — Hamas