Gaza Strip under Hamas

Hamas began governing the Gaza Strip on 14 June 2007 when it took over the territory from the rival Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA). The Hamas administration was first led by Ismail Haniyeh from June 2007 until February 2017; then by Yahya Sinwar until his killing in October 2024; then by Mohammed Sinwar until his assassination in May 2025; and since then by Izz al-Din al-Haddad. During the Gaza war, the group lost control over most of the Gaza Strip to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). As a result of the Gaza peace plan, agreed in October 2025, the IDF currently controls approximately 53% of the territory, and Hamas is set to hand over power to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, as endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803.

After Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections on 25 January 2006, Ismail Haniyeh was nominated as the prime minister of the PA, establishing a national unity government with Fatah. This government effectively collapsed with the outbreak of the violent conflict between Hamas and Fatah. After the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas on 14 June 2007, PA president Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government and appointed Salam Fayyad as prime minister. Though the new Palestinian government's authority was claimed to extend to both the Palestinian territories, in effect it became limited to the West Bank, as Hamas did not recognize the dismissal and continued to rule the Gaza Strip as an effectively separate administration from the PA. There have been reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas since the 2007 split; a brief Palestinian unity government in 2014 failed to organize elections and reunify the Palestinian territories. A third government was formed by Hamas in October 2016.

Since Hamas assumed control over the Gaza Strip, it has engaged in multiple wars with Israel, including those in 2008, 2012, 2014, and an ongoing one since 2023. Hamas lost control of the majority of the Strip in early June 2025, amidst Operation Gideon's Chariots. Hamas has also come into conflict with rival Islamist factions in Gaza that adhere to Salafi-jihadism. Examples include the 2009 revolt of Jund Ansar Allah against Hamas in Rafah, and the 2011 Hamas crackdown on Tawhid al-Jihad after the latter's murder of Vittorio Arrigoni.