"One day we'll change places, I'll sit in your chair and you'll sit in mine. When that happens, we won't talk like we do now," Mohammed Deif told me during an interrogation in 1989, then a young field coordinator at Khan Yunis refugee camp.
The house of Hamas deputy leader al-Arouri was destroyed // Arab networks
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, was established in December 1987, with the outbreak of the first intifada. Until its inception, the movement was known as Al-Mugma'a al-Islami, a religious organization established in the late 70s with the erroneous encouragement of the State of Israel, which hoped that the organization would give a shot at PLO organizations considered infidel by the religious organization, which was perceived as milky and harmless.
Today, Hamas is a military organization whose ideology is fighting until the expulsion and disappearance of the State of Israel and the "return of the refugees of '48 to their homes" inside the State of Israel.
There are no time targets, the key word is patience. As far as they are concerned, if it does not happen in the next century, it will happen in the following century. To that end, they are willing to fight uncompromisingly while demonstrating cruelty and harming the IDF, the security forces, and especially the sensitive Israeli home front.
The scene of a terrorist attack during the second intifada, photo: AP
Hamas, ostensibly a young organization established after a decade of planning and preparation, learned from the establishment of the State of Israel and was organized like a state, with associations in the fields of health, education, welfare, finance, and of course da'wah (repentance) and military activity.
The transition from a religious organization to a fighting movement was quite rapid. Their military activity during the first intifada was characterized by the elimination of thousands of their own people suspected of collaborating with the State of Israel. It was the shock committees that kidnapped, investigated and even executed the suspects, even though 99 percent had nothing to do with the allegations.
Already in the late 80s, the Shin Bet and the IDF exposed and arrested hundreds of Hamas operatives throughout the Gaza Strip. One of the most prominent military operatives arrested was Yahya Sinwar, who was sentenced to five life sentences for involvement in the brutal murder of his own people, including his cousin, who was buried alive immediately after his interrogation.
Another prominent military activity during the first intifada was the abduction and murder of soldiers Ilan Saadoun and Avi Sasportas, and the shooting attack in which Lt. Col. Mintz was murdered. After the arrest of Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif claimed responsibility for the military activity in Khan Yunis.
Salaha, symbol of the intifada, photo: E. Nose. P
Although the activity of his squads expanded throughout the Gaza Strip, it was exposed immediately after a failed attempt to murder the soldier Alon Karavani. The exposure caused the page to flee for activity in Gaza City. Later he left for Judea and Samaria and began working alongside the "engineer" Yahya Ayash.
During the second intifada, whose signs began in the late 90s with the realization that the Oslo Accords were falling apart, Hamas began carrying out hundreds of suicide bombing attacks, killing some 1,500 Israelis and wounding about 10,000.
In response, the Shin Bet, IDF, SWAT team and other special forces began targeted assassinations of Hamas military and political leaders, including Sheikh Yassin, Rantisi and others.
The assassination of global Hamas military head Salah Shehadeh caused a significant break in Hamas' military activity, and the organization found it difficult to rehabilitate its activity. This led to Hamas' victory for the first time, and to a request by its operatives for Egyptian intervention with a message to the State of Israel - stopping the targeted killings would stop the suicide bombing attacks.
The writer is a former Shin Bet official
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