Gaza Strip under Hamas

Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip in Palestine since its takeover of the territory from the rival Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority (PA) on 14 June 2007. 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.

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, 2014, and an ongoing one since 2023. 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 their murder of Vittorio Arrigoni.