Who are they who command Gaza?

What does Hamas represent, in whose support he relies and where do they get them so many rockets?

“Radical” or “Islamist” These epithets are usually read in Western media together with the Hamas organisation, which took power at the Gaza Strip in 2007.

In recent days, after Hamas targeted Israel with thousands of rockets, there have been more and more words for a “Islamic terrorist organisation”. That's how Hamas is officially seen in the EU and the US.

Hamas was founded in the second half of the 1980s as opposition to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) of Yasser Arafat. It is questionable whether Hamas was actually “built” with Israeli government money as counterweight to PLO. Not surprisingly, both Israel and Hamas deny this scenario today. Because, unlike PLO, Hamas does not know Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

The Al Aqsa mosque, with its famous golden dome, and among Palestinian flags, can be seen the contributions of the undivided Palestinian state, a territory that includes today's state territory of Israel.

In 1993, as part of the Oslo Peace Process, Arafat made peace with Israel, bringing an end to the first “Intifade”, as Palestinian uprisings are called. Hamas did not recognise the historic agreement and continued to attack on Israeli territory.

In the 2006 elections at the Gaza Strip, Hamas won an absolute majority, and later a year strengthened power by military means. The moderate Fatah party, led by Mahmoud Abbas, is in power in the West Coast. Because of this conclusion, it can often be heard that Palestinian territories are not only geographically separate but also politically.

From the Gaza Strip, Hamas continued to launch attacks on Israel, describing them as “defence”. These days, we witness the 4th escalation of military conflicts, after 2008/09, 2012 and 2014.

Who supports Hamas?

Gaza's belt is one of the world's most populated areas, with about two million inhabitants in only 360 square miles [360 sq km].

Gaza is almost completely isolated because of its almost airtightly closed borders with Egypt in the south and Israel in the east and north, and the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

A large part of the population lives in poverty, sentenced to humanitarian aid ʹ which has been significantly reduced in recent years, under pressure from former US President Donald Trump.

When Hamas attacks, the civilian population often serves as human protection. Missiles are released from residential areas and commands are located in buildings. Hamas also often digs tunnels for arms smuggling, mainly from Egypt. But the government there claims it is not interested in continuing the practice.

One of Hamas' most important donors and allies is Qatar. In 2012, Qatar's emir was the first statesman to visit Hamas' leadership in Gaza. This small Gulf state has so far transferred more than 1.5 billion euros to Hamas.

But Israel hopes Qatar and some other Arab countries will join the “Agreement Abraham” initiated by Trump, and thus establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

Another key ally of Hamas is Turkey. On the eve of recent missile attacks by Hamas, Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan spoke with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and promised him support.

In addition to Qatar and Turkey, Hamas also supports a number of non-governmental initiatives and associations, including those from Germany. According to “magazine Spiegel”, German associations near Hamas are sending millions of customs to the Gaza Strip.

Where do the missiles come from?

The number of missiles fired in the Israeli attacks, which began last Monday, exceeded much of the previous escalation of violence, figures say Hamas, according to his statements, fired 130 rockets in just a few minutes last Tuesday.

With such intensity of fire, Israeli air defence, widely known as the Iron Cup, cannot always end. Over three thousand shells were fired on Israel in a week.

The rockets in Hamas have been coming mainly from Iran. Analyst Fabian Hinz, specialising in rockets in the Middle East, told the German public service ZDF: “knew that different groups had significantly increased their arsenal. It was also known that the amount of missiles available to them was in the thousands. This was confirmed on several occasions by Israeli sources”.

The newspaper “Jerusalem Post” cites sources from the secret services, which claim that Hamas' arsenal includes up to 6,000 missiles and has up to 8,000 missiles owned by the Islamic Jihad, an organisation that co-operates in part with Hamas.

According to Hinz, Iranian missiles have long been smuggled into the Gaza Strip through Sudan and Egypt. But this is no easier, especially after Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019. Hamas, meanwhile, is believed to be producing most of his local missile arsenal with raw materials and offshore smuggling tools.