what is hamas in palestine

Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization that was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian Intifada or uprising. It is backed by Shiite Iran and shares the Islamist ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was established in Egypt in the 1920s. Hamas is one of the Palestinian territories two major political parties and governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The group is best known for its armed resistance to Israel and has fought four wars against Israel since taking power in 2007. Hamas has a military wing known as the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades that has conducted many anti-Israel attacks in both Israel and the Palestinian territories since the 1990s. These attacks have included large-scale bombings against Israeli civilian targets, small-arms attacks, improvised roadside explosives, and rocket attacks. The groups charter calls for establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel and rejects all agreements made between the PLO and Israel. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by dozens of countries, including the United States, Israel, the European Union, Canada, Egypt, and Japan.