Hamas: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026

News •

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Facts

Also Known As	Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmiyyah • Ḥamās • Islamic Resistance Movement
Date	1987 - present
Areas Of Involvement	Islam • guerrilla warfare • nationalism • terrorism • suicide bombing
Related People	Yahya Sinwar • Khaled Meshaal • Ismail Haniyeh • Sheikh Ahmad Yassin

Photos

Ismail Haniyeh, wearing a green cap, waves a flag and gestures to a large crowd of supporters holding green flags at a rally in Gaza City, with city buildings in the background.

A distressed young woman sits at a picnic table with her head in her hand as Israeli rescue workers attend to her and others after a rocket attack in Tel Aviv at night.

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Topics

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria Ku Klux Klan al-Qaeda Boko Haram al-Shabaab Kurdistan Workers’ Party Red Army Faction al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)Abu Sayyaf Group

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Khaled Meshaal: Ḥamās leadership