On its 38th anniversary: Hamas a history filled with challenges and a hope pulsing with freedom
In the shadow of the second anniversary of the blessed Al-Aqsa Flood battle, the anniversary of the founding of the Hamas Movement comes amid major and dangerous internal and external challenges facing the Palestinian national cause, challenges that collide with the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance.
December 14 marks the thirty-eighth anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas,” which constituted a decisive turning point in the course of the struggle and confrontation with the Israeli occupation, and served as a unifying national banner for the entire Palestinian people.
According to a report published by Hamas on its official website, the thirty-eighth anniversary comes amid major transformations intended to liquidate the Palestinian national cause. “The Al-Aqsa Flood battle, however, drew, through the blood of our martyrs who rose on the path to freedom, another political scene, not the one the occupation and its supporters sought. Its headline: there can be no stability in the region without the freedom of our people and their right to self-determination, away from illusory guardianship projects.”
The Movement’s anniversary passes in the shadow of the second anniversary of the blessed Al-Aqsa Flood battle, reaffirming “a firm and renewed commitment to the continued path of resistance in defense of our people’s sanctities and in support of their national causes until the occupation is expelled.”
The resistance of the Palestinian people is neither contrary to the laws of history nor an anomaly among the peoples of the world who resisted occupiers until they attained freedom, where the will of oppressed peoples triumphed over tyrannical occupiers through steadfastness and an inevitable faith in freedom.
Hamas affirmed that since its founding it has waged successive military and political battles, some directly on the battlefield with the enemy, others in the arena of awareness, narrative, and the story of liberation, standing against all plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause and “attempts to plant defeat among our people.”
Since its launch on December 14, 1987, and over the course of thirty-eight years, the Movement has faced numerous challenges and ordeals that became renewed points of departure, making it stronger and more present in the scene of confrontation and struggle with the Israeli occupation.
Marj Al-Zuhour
On December 17, 1992, Israel deported 415 leaders of Islamic factions to southern Lebanon, following a fierce arrest campaign launched after the Izz Al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas captured the Israeli soldier First Sergeant Nissim Toledano.
The deportees rejected the decision and remained in the Marj al-Zuhour area in southern Lebanon despite harsh weather and limited resources, until UN Security Council Resolution 977 was issued calling for their return. Most of them returned within a year.
The deportees transformed their camp in Marj al-Zuhour into a focal point for introducing Palestine and its cause, conveying the Palestinian voice to the world.
The Movement succeeded in thwarting the policy of deportation; the will to return to the homeland prevailed; a dangerous challenge aimed at removing resistance leaders from Palestine and its national arena was overcome; and Israel suffered a resounding failure.
Policy of assassinations
In a desperate attempt to eradicate Palestinian resistance, Israel resorted throughout the stages of confrontation and conflict to the policy of assassinating Hamas leaders and Palestinian resistance figures.
Among the most prominent assassinations during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which erupted in September 2000, were the targeting of the founding Sheikh, the martyred Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, on March 22, 2004, and his successor in leading the Movement, the martyred leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, on April 17, 2004. During the war of extermination, leaders Ismail Haneyya, Saleh Al-Arouri, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and hundreds of political and military leaders were assassinated.
These assassinations and attacks did not prevent the movement from continuing on the path of resistance; rather, they became fuel for the escalation of resistance operations, which ultimately forced the occupation to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in September 2005.
Elections and the siege
Hamas’s victory in the Palestinian legislative elections on January 25, 2006 marked a turning point in the Palestinian political landscape.
With Fatah’s refusal to participate in forming the government, Hamas was compelled to form it alone at the time, headed by Ismail Haneyya. Despite the siege imposed on it, the Movement succeeded in standing firm, overcoming the blockade, and weathering the ordeal.
Governance and resistance
On June 25, 2006, just six months after the Movement’s electoral victory, the Qassam Brigades, alongside other factions, succeeded in capturing the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from inside his tank during the heroic “Al-Wahm Al-Mutabidded” operation.
On October 18, 2011, the Movement succeeded in securing the release of 1,047 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for handing over Shalit, adding a new achievement in freeing prisoners after the occupation’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, and recording another success in its ability to combine governance and resistance.
Successive wars
Hamas faced a series of repeated wars and the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, and despite the challenges, managed to confront them and strengthen the Movement’s power and standing. Beginning with the Battle of al-Furqan in 2008, followed by other battles in 2012, 2014, 2021, and finally the Al-Aqsa Flood in 2023.
These wars were launched by Israel in failed attempts to eradicate the valiant Palestinian resistance; all their objectives were shattered against the rock of the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance.
Al-Aqsa Flood
The blessed Al-Aqsa Flood battle, whose spark was ignited in defense of Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, stands as one of the most prominent and decisive historical milestones in the Movement’s path and the Palestinian resistance project.
Throughout the long days of confrontation during the Al-Aqsa Flood, the Movement endured many challenges and ordeals that did not cause resistance to retreat or falter; rather, “they became a source of inspiration and strength, reinforcing adherence to our people’s rights and national constants.”
During the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, despite the Israeli assassination of the Movement’s political and military leadership, foremost among them the great martyr Ismail Haneyya, the martyred leader Yahya Sinwar, the martyred leader Saleh al-Arouri, and the martyred leader Mohammed Deif, the Movement succeeded in leading the battle with political wisdom and heroic military performance. This reflected the depth of leadership and command within the Movement’s political and military institutions, and its ability to continue on the path of resistance under the most difficult challenges and circumstances.
It is a long journey rich with events and arduous challenges, which the Movement has undertaken at every stage of its struggle, most recently the blessed Al-Aqsa Flood battle, during which the Palestinian people and their resistance offered great sacrifices and paid a heavy price on the road to freedom, the Movement underlined.
“Our people and their resistance will remain steadfast, growing stronger than ever before in the course of struggle and confrontation with the occupation, and will write their imminent freedom with martyrs’ blood, and the inevitable demise of the occupation, by divine promise and the laws of history that do not favor occupiers,” Hamas concluded.