In 2006, Hamas won the
2006 Palestinian legislative elections and assumed administrative control of Gaza Strip and West Bank. In 2007, Hamas led a
military victory over Fatah, the secular Palestinian nationalist party, which had dominated the
Palestinian National Authority. As a result,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared
state of emergency and released Hamas Prime Minister Haniye – a move not recognized by the Hamas party, which
de facto continued administration and military control of the Gaza Strip, while in the PNA controlled West Bank another government was established with Fatah domination. Both regimes – the Ramallah and Gaza government – regard themselves as the sole legitimate government of the Palestinian National Authority. Egyptian-mediated negotiations toward reconciliation between the Fatah and the Hamas government produced a preliminary agreement, planned to be implemented by May 2012 in joint elections. To date, the Hamas government is only economically bonded with the Ramallah-based Palestinian National Authority, performing the governing over the Gaza Strip independently. Hamas operates three internal security organisations: the General Security Service, Military Intelligence, and the Internal Security Service. The General Security Service is officially part of Hamas's political arm and works to stifle dissent. Military Intelligence is dedicated to obtaining information about Israel, and the Internal Security Service is a part of the interior ministry. The
New York Times reported that the General Security Service employed 856 people before the 2023 war.
Legality of Hamas rule After Hamas's June 2007 takeover, it ousted Fatah-linked officials from positions of power and authority (such as government positions, security services, universities, newspapers, etc.) and strove to enforce law by progressively removing guns from the hands of peripheral militias, clans, and criminal groups, and gaining control of supply tunnels. According to
Amnesty International, under Hamas rule, newspapers were closed down and journalists were harassed. Fatah demonstrations were forbidden or suppressed, as in the case of a large demonstration on the anniversary of
Yasser Arafat's death, which resulted in the deaths of seven people, after protesters hurled stones at Hamas security forces. Hamas and other militant groups continued to fire Qassam rockets across the border into Israel. According to Israel, between the Hamas takeover and the end of January 2008, 697 rockets and 822 mortar bombs were fired at Israeli towns. In response, Israel targeted Qassam launchers and military targets and declared the Gaza Strip a hostile entity. In January 2008, Israel curtailed travel from Gaza, the entry of goods, and cut fuel supplies, resulting in power shortages. This brought charges that Israel was inflicting
collective punishment on the Gaza population, leading to international condemnation. Despite multiple reports from within the Strip that food and other essentials were in short supply, Israel said that Gaza had enough food and energy supplies for weeks. The Israeli government uses economic means to pressure Hamas. Among other things, it caused Israeli commercial enterprises like banks and fuel companies to stop doing business with the Gaza Strip. The role of private corporations in the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip is an issue that has not been extensively studied.
List of governments •
Hamas government of June 2007 •
Hamas government of 2012 •
Third Hamdallah Government •
Hamas government of October 2016 Administrative divisions Governorates of the Gaza Strip are five administrative districts: •
Deir al-Balah Governorate •
Gaza Governorate •
Khan Yunis Governorate •
North Gaza Governorate •
Rafah Governorate After the signing of the
Oslo Accords in 1993, the
Palestinian territories of the
West Bank and
Gaza Strip were divided into three areas (
Area A, Area B, and Area C) and 16
governorates under the jurisdiction of the
Palestinian National Authority. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, enlarging the administered Palestinian territories in that region. In 2007, following the
War of Brothers in the Gaza Strip between Fatah and Hamas, the latter took over the area and expelled all Palestinian Authority officials, affiliated with Fatah. It has since administered the five districts, including
eight cities.
Leadership Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip }
Ministries •
Education Minister of the Gaza Strip •
Gaza Health Ministry • Ministry of the Waqf •
Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Gaza Strip) •
Ministry of Interior and National Security in the Gaza Strip Security After having confronted and disarmed significant Fatah-supporting hamullas, or clans, Hamas had a near monopoly on arms inside Gaza. A 2012 report by
Nathan J. Brown found increasing
authoritarian actions in the administration of the Gaza Strip, with opposition parties restricted from performing public activities. Brown found that the Hamas government increasingly took on tendencies seen in past administrations by the rival
Fatah party, which ruled over the
West Bank. Parties affiliated with Fatah, as well as affiliated NGOs, have been subjected to stricter controls. One such NGO, the
Sharek Youth Forum, was closed in 2010. The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian Territory requested that Hamas reconsider dissolving that NGO. In June 2013, as a result of pressure from
Egypt, Hamas deployed a 600-strong force to prevent rocket fire into
Israel from Gaza. The following months showed a dramatic decline in the number of rockets fired at Israel. in February 2014, however, Hamas removed most of the anti-rocket force it had deployed to prevent cross-border attacks on Israel. This move by Hamas is likely to have been interpreted as a green light to fire on Israel by the various other terror groups in Gaza, such as the
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, which carried out in excess of 60 rocket attacks on southern Israel, on 12 March 2014 alone. In the wake of this incident of rocket-fire into Israel, and the
many other incidents that followed, Israel warned that it might invade Gaza if the attacks did not cease. As
further rocket attacks continued,
Israel took action in the summer of 2014 by carrying out a temporary invasion of the Gaza Strip, during which more than 800 Hamas members were killed by the IDF (according to Israel's
ITIC organization) – note that casualty statistics in Gaza-Israeli conflicts are commonly up for
debate and controversy (the latter analyses the casualty figures from the
2008–09 Gaza conflict). This came as a major blow to Hamas, and to their support in the Gaza Strip. The emergence of a recent faction of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (yet to be officially confirmed) within the Strip has also added security-concerns amongst Hamas officials, following the unsuccessful defence of the Strip against Israel's
Operation Protective Edge. On 31 May 2015, the Islamic State Group offshoot, also calling itself the "
Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade", claimed responsibility for the assassination of a high ranking Hamas commander, whose vehicle was blown up when an on-board bomb was detonated. The General Security Service, formally part of the Hamas political party, operates akin to a governmental body within Gaza. Under the direct oversight of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, it conducts extensive surveillance on Palestinians, compiling files on various individuals including journalists and government critics. This secret police force relies on a network of informants and employs tactics such as censorship and surveillance to maintain control. Before the 2023 conflict with Israel, the unit reportedly had a monthly budget of $120,000 and consisted of 856 personnel, including more than 160 individuals paid to spread Hamas propaganda and conduct online attacks against opponents. Other powerful internal security bodies in Gaza include Military Intelligence, which focuses on Israel, and the Internal Security Service, an arm of the Interior Ministry. They view the group as a
terrorist organization, and have pressured Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and make good on past agreements. Prior to disengagement, 120,000 Palestinians from Gaza were employed in Israel or in joint projects. After the Israeli withdrawal, the gross domestic product of the Gaza Strip declined. Israeli enterprises shut down, work relationships were severed and job opportunities in Israel dried up. Following Hamas' takeover in 2007, key international powers, including the EU, US and Israel showed public support for the new
Fatah administration without Hamas. The EU and US normalized the tie to the Palestinian National Authority and resumed direct aid. Israel announced it would return frozen tax revenue of about US$800m to the new Fatah administration. Israel also imposed a naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which ensured Mediterranean imports of goods into the Strip did not include any sort of weaponry. The naval policy was stopped, and then was re-initiated in early 2014, when an arms shipment was seized by the IDF. The move disabled Hamas from making further investments in weapon-trade with
Iran, and other Iranian backed groups such as
Hezbollah in Lebanon. Despite the active blockade (which many claimed also restricted non-weapon related trade, such as food supply), Hamas leader
Mahmoud Zahar said, speaking in 2012, that Gaza's economic situation has improved and Gaza has become self-reliant "in several aspects except petroleum and electricity." Zahar said that Gaza's economic conditions are better than those in the
West Bank. However, such statements have been considered political propaganda by many, and could have been aimed towards diminishing the economic successes of the rival
Fatah political party in the West Bank, at a time when tensions between the two parties became particularly intense.
2012 fuel crisis Gaza generally obtained its diesel fuel from Israel but, in 2011, Hamas began buying cheaper fuel from Egypt, bringing it via a network of tunnels, and refused to buy it from Israel. In early 2012, due to internal economic disagreement between the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza, decreased supplies from Egypt through tunnel smuggling, and Hamas' refusal to ship fuel via Israel, the Gaza Strip plunged into a fuel crisis, bringing increasingly long electricity shut downs and disruption of transportation. Egypt attempted to stop the use of tunnels for delivery of Egyptian fuel purchased by Palestinian authorities, and severely reduced supply through the tunnel network. As the crisis deepened, Hamas sought to equip the Rafah terminal between Egypt and Gaza for fuel transfer, and refused to accept fuel delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza. In mid-February, as the crisis escalated, Hamas rejected an
Egyptian proposal to bring in fuel via the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza to reactivate Gaza's only power plant. Ahmed Abu Al-Amreen of the Hamas-run Energy Authority refused it on the grounds that the crossing is operated by Israel and Hamas' fierce opposition to the existence of Israel. Egypt cannot ship
diesel fuel to Gaza directly through the Rafah crossing point, because it is limited to the movement of individuals. In late March, Hamas began offering carpools of Hamas state vehicles for people to get to work. Many Gazans began to wonder how these vehicles have fuel themselves, as diesel was completely unavailable in Gaza, ambulances could no longer be used, but Hamas government officials still had fuel for their own cars. Many Gazans said that Hamas confiscated the fuel it needed from petrol stations and used it exclusively for their own purposes. Egypt agreed to provide 600,000 liters of fuel to Gaza daily, but it had no way of delivering it that Hamas would agree to. In addition, Israel introduced a number of goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as well as the normal diesel for hospitals. Israel also shipped 150,000 liters of diesel through the crossing, which was paid for by the
Red Cross.
Economic protests In March 2019, there were a
series of economic protests against Hamas in response to tax hikes due to the Israeli-Egyptian
blockade of the Gaza Strip and financial pressure from the
Palestinian Authority. Protesters used the slogan "
We want to live". Hamas responded by arresting and beating people (including journalists and human rights employees), as well as by raiding homes. In July and August 2023, thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip took to the streets to protest chronic power outages, poor economic conditions in the territory, and Hamas's taxation of stipends to the poor paid by Qatar. The
2023 rallies, organized by a grassroots online movement called "Alvirus Alsakher" (The mocking virus), were a rare public display of discontent against the ruling Hamas government. Hamas bars most demonstrations and public displays of discontent. Hamas police attacked and detained journalists attempting to cover the protests,
International aid Israeli cooperation In January and February 2011, the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) conducted an assessment of the effects of the measures to ease the access restrictions. They concluded that they did not result in a significant improvement in people's livelihoods. On 16 November 2012, following the death of
Ahmed Jabril, Egyptian prime minister
Hisham Qandil visited the enclave, leading to a brief ceasefire offer by Israel.
Tunisia's Foreign Minister
Rafik Abdessalem and
Turkey's Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu visited Gaza in November 2012 as well.
Current budget Most of the Gaza Strip administration funding comes from outside as aid, with a large portion delivered by UN organizations directly to education and food supply. Most of the Gaza GDP of $700 million comes as foreign humanitarian and direct economic support. Of those funds, the major part is supported by the U.S. and the European Union. Portions of the direct economic support have been provided by the Arab League, though it largely has not provided funds according to schedule. Among other alleged sources of Gaza administration budget is Iran. A diplomatic source told Reuters that Iran had funded Hamas in the past with up to $300 million per year, but the flow of money had not been regular in 2011. "Payment has been in suspension since August", said the source. The government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria had been a stalwart ally and a conduit for Iranian money. But due to sectarian considerations following the
revolt in Syria, Hamas decided to shut its political bureau in Damascus. Hamas' break with Syria has meant a sharp cut in the financing it received from Iran. In response, Hamas has raised taxes and fees considerably. Setting up its own lavish civil administration in Gaza that issues papers, licenses, insurance and numerous other permissions — and always for a tax or a fee. In January 2012, some diplomatic sources have said that Turkey promised to provide Haniyeh's Gaza Strip administration with $300 million to support its annual budget. Chief of Gaza's parliament's budget committee Jamal Nassar said the 2012 budget is $769 million, compared to $630 million in 2011. ==See also==