Palestine: Who runs Palestine, what are the political parties here? Know his relationship with Hamas

Posted on 13th Oct 2023 by rohit kumar

After the attack on Israel, the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas has become a topic of discussion across the world. It carried out a major attack by tricking even the Israeli intelligence agency, which was considered impenetrable. Now Israel has also started retaliating and has vowed to destroy Hamas.

 

Talking about the political factions of Palestine, Hamas, and Fatah are the two big factions here. Along with this, the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization also have a role in the government. So in such a situation, we should know who has power in Palestine. Who runs it? Which are the political parties here? What does Hamas do here?

 

Palestine Liberation Organization

Since 2007, a coalition government named Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been ruling here. The PLO was conceived at the 1964 Arab League summit in Cairo, Egypt. Its objective was to liberate Palestine.

 

This organization is a coalition of small Arab groups in which the Fatah group plays a major role. Fatah's founder Yasser Arafat became chairman of the PLO in 1969 and held the position until he died in 2004. Mahmood Abbas is currently the head of the organization.

 

Palestinian authority

Palestine is officially run by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Its main leader is Mahmoud Abbas who is also leading the PLO and Fatah. The head of the Palestinian Authority is the President. The President appoints the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

 

The PA was established by the Oslo Accords in 1994. It was established as an interim body to govern Gaza and parts of the West Bank (except East Jerusalem) until the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is resolved.

 

In 2006, Hamas won the Legislative Council elections. After this, Hamas ousted the PA from the Gaza Strip and has been ruling the area since then. Currently, the PA is limited only to parts of the West Bank.

 

Fatah

It is the short form of the National Liberation Movement in the Arabic language. Fatah was founded in July 1965 by Yasser Arafat. It describes itself as a secular nationalist organization. Mahmood Abbas is currently holding its reins. Fatah is the main component of the PA, which governs about 40 percent of the Palestinian-occupied West Bank. It had been controlling the Gaza Strip before the 2006 Legislative Council elections. However, it was defeated by the political wing of Hamas in the Legislative Council elections held in 2006. With this, Fatah also lost control over the Gaza Strip.

 

Hamas

Hamas is infamous in the world as a terrorist organization that attacks Israel. However, it is also a major political party in Palestinian politics. Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, was founded in 1987 during the Palestinian Intifada uprising. It was supported by Iran and its ideology matched the Islamic ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in the 1920s.

 

Hamas was founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In 1987, Yasin had declared the first intifada against Israel. Intifada is usually called 'uprising' or 'rebellion'. In 1988, Hamas had said that it was established for the liberation of Palestine. The armed wing of Hamas was formed in 1992. From 1993 to 2005, Hamas carried out several suicide attacks in Israel.

 

Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. At that time, Hamas had defeated the fighters of President Mahmoud Abbas, who was in power in the West Bank and the head of the PLO, in a civil war. Hamas took control of the Gaza area after winning the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006. The last elections were held there at the same time. During that time, Hamas had accused Abbas of conspiring against itself. On the other hand, Abbas had described Hamas' capture of Gaza as a coup.

 

Also Read: Israel-Palestine War: 'Egypt had already warned of Hamas attack' What did Israel say on the report's claim?