A bit of HAMAS history
HAMAS formed in late 1987 at the beginning of the first Palestinian intifada (uprising
Initially mostly associated with refugee camps and food.
HAMAS and Fatah in April 2011 agreed to form an interim government and hold elections, reaffirming this pledge in February 2012. HAMAS departed its long-time political headquarters in Damascus in February and dispersed throughout the region as Syrian President Bashar al-Asad’s crackdown on opposition in the country made remaining in Syria untenable for the group. In May 2012, HAMAS claimed to have established a 300-strong force to prevent other Palestinian resistance groups from firing rockets into Israel. Conflict broke out again in November. While HAMAS had worked to maintain the cease-fire brokered by Egypt that ended the week-long conflict, other Palestinian militant groups flouted the cease-fire with sporadic rocket attacks throughout 2013 and 2014. Fatah and HAMAS in April 2014 agreed to form a technocratic unity government headed by PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and to hold legislative elections within six months. HAMAS has not renounced violent resistance against Israel even while pursuing reconciliation with Fatah.
In July 2014, the uneasy calm between HAMAS and Israel broke down completely after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank in June—deaths ascribed by Israel to HAMAS—and a Palestinian was killed by Israeli settlers in revenge. Retaliatory rocket attacks by HAMAS’s military wing and other Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip escalated into the longest and most lethal conflict with Israel since 2009.
Bold part Israel's assumption.
August 2005
Monday Israel starts pulling out of 21settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. Afterit's cleared, the land will be handed over to Palestinian control. Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ilene Prusher explains how - and why - this will happen.
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Mr. Sharon endorsed a view Israel's left-winghas argued for years: Being in some parts of the Occupied Territories was more of a security liability than an asset. And, for the first time ever, Sharon said in 2003 that he wanted to end the occupation. "It is not possible to continue holding 3-1/2 million people under occupation," he told Likud members in May 2003. "You may not like the word, but what's happening is occupation.This is a terrible thing for Israel, for the Palestinians, and for the Israeli economy."
Why did Israel occupy the settlements in the first place?
Israel occupied the territories after taking control of Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli political figures - Sharon foremost among them - argued for building settlements in the territories to achieve several goals. The settlements would create "facts on the ground" that would make it impossible for Israel to turn the disputed lands over to the Palestinians. And the settlements might also, in the long term, populate the territories with enough Israelis to warrant annexation.
.The settlement buildings were destroyed
The last part explains what has been going on in the West Bank plus the sudden explosion in more authorised settlement intent since the 7th.
1967 has it's interesting factors. Not all that long after the oil states decided to give us all a fuel crisis. Politics moves slowly and this factor may part explain Israel's withdrawal.
