The Hamas Predicament: Organizational Challenges in a Volatile Environment | INSS
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Strategic Assessment

Home Strategic Assessment The Hamas Predicament: Organizational Challenges in a Volatile Environment

The Hamas Predicament: Organizational Challenges in a Volatile Environment

Research Forum | October 2013 Follow us on Google
Benedetta Berti

Hamas seemed to emerge from the November 2012 confrontation with Israel in a position of relative strength. The terms of the ceasefire and the limited steps Israel undertook in the aftermath of the war to lift some of the restrictions on the Gaza Strip substantiated Hamas’s sense of victory and control. The Gaza-based Palestinian movement also benefitted from regional backing, particularly from Qatar and Egypt, which confirmed the overall perception that Hamas had been able to take advantage of the upheaval generated by the Arab Awakening to improve its regional status. Yet in the following months this trend reversed quickly, propelling Hamas from a position of strength to one of clear fragility. Hamas now finds itself at a crossroads, forced to choose between isolation and integration and between political and military tracks to advance its organizational interests.


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  • Research

    • Topics
      • Israel and the Global Powers
      • Israel-United States Relations
      • Glazer Israel-China Policy Center
      • Russia
      • Europe
      • Antisemitism and Delegitimization
      • Iran and the Shi'ite Axis
      • The Campaign Against Iran and the Shiite Axis
      • Iran
      • Lebanon and Hezbollah
      • Syria
      • Yemen and the Houthi Movement
      • Iraq and the Iraqi Shiite Militias
      • Conflict to Agreements
      • Israeli-Palestinian Relations
      • Hamas and the Gaza Strip
      • Peace Agreements and Normalization in the Middle East
      • Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States
      • Turkey
      • Egypt
      • Jordan
      • Israel’s National Security Policy
      • Military and Strategic Affairs
      • Societal Resilience and the Israeli Society
      • Jewish-Arab Relations in Israel
      • Climate, Infrastructure and Energy
      • Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict
      • Cross-Arena Research
      • Data Analytics Center
      • Law and National Security
      • Advanced Technologies and National Security
      • Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference
      • Economics and National Security
    • Projects
      • Preventing the Slide into a One-State Reality
      • India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)
  • Publications

    • All Publications
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    • Policy Research and Papers
    • Special Publication
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