The Fatah–Hamas conflict () is an ongoing political and strategic conflict between Fatah and Hamas, the two main political parties in the Palestinian territories, leading to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The reconciliation process and unification of Hamas and Fatah administrations remains unfinalized and the situation is deemed a frozen conflict.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights has found that over 600 Palestinians were killed in the fighting from January 2006 to May 2007. Dozens more were killed or executed in the following years as part of the conflict.
Overview Hamas was founded in 1987,Fatah agrees to celebrate Hamas anniversary in Gaza . JTA, 7 December 2012.Amal Jamal. The Palestinian National Movement: Politics of Contention, 1967–2005 . Indiana University Press. 2005. p. 197. n.21. Dates differ, between December 1987 – January 1988, and August 1988. soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. It is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization,Anthony H. Cordesman.Peace and War: The Arab–Israeli Military Balance Enters the 21st Century . Greenwood Publishing Group. 2002. p. 243: "Hamas is a radical Islamic fundamentalist organization that has stated that its highest priority is a Jihad (holy war) for the liberation of Palestine."Meir Litvak. "Hamas: Palestinian Identity, Islam, and National Sovereignty," in Asher Susser (ed.) Challenges to the Cohesion of the Arabic State . Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. Tel Aviv University. 2008. p. 153: 'One of the secrets behind the success of Hamas is that it is an Islamic and national movement at one and the same time,' which is regarded, either in whole or in part, as a terrorist organization by several countries and international organizations, including by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Paraguay, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In 1996, Hamas called for an intifada against Yasser Arafat. Palestinian Intelligence Chief Amin al-Hindi blamed Hamas for instigating a series of protests in August 1996 in Tulkarm in an effort to subvert the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, stating that "We have put our hands on messages from abroad instructing people inside the territories to stage riots...."Greenberg, Joel. "West Bank Arabs Complain of New Oppressor, Their Own", The New York Times, August 5, 1996. Accessed February 16, 2026. "Reacting to the violence in Tulkarm, Hamas issued a leaflet calling for another 'intifada,' or uprising, this time against Mr. Arafat.... The authority accuses Hamas of trying to undermine its rule, asserting that armed militants whipped up the crowd and fired the fatal shots in Tulkarm. 'We have put our hands on messages from abroad instructing people inside the territories to stage riots and also some leaflets calling on people to take action against the Palestinian Authority,' said Amin al-Hindi, chief of Palestinian intelligence."
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas began to rise in 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004. After the legislative election on 25 January 2006, which resulted in a Hamas victory, relations were marked by sporadic factional fighting. This became more intense after the two parties repeatedly failed to reach a deal to share government power, escalating in June 2007 and resulting in Hamas' takeover of Gaza. A major issue was control over the border crossings, especially the Rafah Border Crossing.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh formed a new PA government on 29 March 2006 comprising mostly Hamas members. Fatah and other factions had refused to join, especially as Hamas refused to accept the Quartet's conditions, such as recognition of Israel and earlier agreements. As a result, a substantial part of the international community, especially Israel, the United States and European Union countries, refused to deal with the Hamas government and imposed sanctions. Following the abduction by Hamas militants of Gilad Shalit on 25 June 2006 in a cross-border raid via a tunnel out of Gaza, Israel detained nearly a quarter of PLC members and ministers on the West Bank during August 2006, intensified the boycott of Gaza and took other punitive measures.Palestinian Legislative Council Members . Addameer, 2013Palestinian MK demands release of PLC members; reinstatement of Jerusalem ID . Ma'an News Agency, 12 September 200825% of Palestinian MPs detained by Israel . Conal Urquhart, Guardian, 21 August 2006
Calls for the implementation of the Cairo Declaration, including the formation of a unity government and the cessation of violence between Fatah and Hamas, were made in the Fatah–Hamas Mecca Agreement of 8 February 2007. The Hamas government was replaced on 17 March 2007 by a national unity government headed by Haniyeh comprising Hamas and Fatah ministers. In June 2007, Hamas fighters took control of the Gaza Strip and removed all Fatah officials. President Abbas, on 14 June, declared a state of emergency, dismissed Haniyeh's national unity government and appointed an emergency government, and suspended articles of the Basic Law to circumvent the needed PNC approval.Presidential Decrees Issued on June - July 2007. JMCC, archived on 12 October 2007
Hamas has been the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip since its takeover in June 2007.Richard Davis. Hamas, Popular Support and War in the Middle East: Insurgency in the Holy Land Routledge. 2016. pp. 67–69.Tariq Mukhimer. Hamas Rule in Gaza: Human Rights Under Constraint . Palgrave Macmillan. 2012. pp. vii, 57. Since then, it has fought several wars with Israel, and the Palestinian Authority has been split into two polities, each seeing itself as the true representative of the Palestinian people – the Fatah-ruled Palestinian National Authority and the Hamas Government in Gaza.
Preceding events Involvement of Britain Documents published in the Palestine Papers reveal that in 2004 the British intelligence MI6 helped draw up a security plan for a Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. The plan mentioned as an objective, "encourage and enable the Palestinian Authority (PA) to fully meet its security obligations under Phase 1 of the Roadmap". It proposed a number of ways of "degrading the capabilities of rejectionists", naming Hamas, PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) and the Al-Aqsa Brigades. The plan was described by the Guardian as a "wide-ranging crackdown on Hamas"."Palestine papers reveal MI6 drew up plan for crackdown on Hamas" . Ian Black and Seumas Milne, Guardian, 25 January 2011 The supposed plan for a Fatah counter-insurgency against Hamas backfired in June 2006, when Hamas won the 2006 elections.Palestine papers: MI6 plan proposed internment – and hotline to Israelis . Ian Black and Seumas Milne, Guardian, 25 January 2011- "the [Palestine papers] documents reflected a 2003 decision by Tony Blair to tie UK and EU security policy in the West Bank and Gaza to a US-led "counter-insurgency surge" against Hamas – which backfired when the Islamists won the 2006 elections".
Israeli disengagement from Gaza
In July 2004, there were clashes between rival Hamas-led sections of the security forces in Gaza and violent protests, which were widely seen as a power struggle ahead of Israel's promised pullout from Gaza.Arafat denies he is facing crisis . BBC, 24 July 2004
On 16 February 2005, the Israeli parliament had approved its disengagement from Gaza, which would drastically change the Israeli–Palestinian relations in Gaza. The disengagement plan from 2003 was already adopted by the Israeli Government in June 2004. Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005. Control of the Gaza–Egypt border was on the Egyptian side handed over to Egypt. The Fatah-dominated PA had been given control on the Gazan side at the Rafah Border Crossing. The 2005 Philadelphi Accord between Israel and Egypt turned over control of the border to Egypt.A New Reality on the Egypt-Gaza Border (Part I): Contents of the New Israel-Egypt Agreement . Brooke Neuman, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 19 September 2005 From February 2005, a technocrat Fatah-led PA government controlled the Palestinian National Security Forces.Current Palestinian Government Structure (Factsheet) . MIFTAH, 3 December 2005
From November 2005 until June 2007, the Rafah Crossing was jointly controlled by Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, with the European Union monitoring the activities from 24 November 2005 on the Gazan side.FAQs . EU BAM Rafah. Accessed September 2015
2006 elections and Hamas-government
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas intensified after Hamas won the elections of 2006 and the international community increased the pressure on the Palestinian Authority. As a result of the Hamas led government's refusal to commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements, Israel, the Middle East Quartet (United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union) and several Western states imposed sanctions suspending all foreign aid.
The PA government, which had shared authority over the Security Forces with President Abbas, was no longer in the hands of Fatah. After Abbas and Hamas had engaged in a power struggle but failed to reach an agreement, Abbas appointed, on 6 April 2006, the Fatah-affiliated Abu Shbak head of the Security Forces, by-passing the Hamas Interior Minister.Alone and Broke, Hamas Struggles to Rule . New York Times, 7 April 2006 In response, Hamas formed its own security force.
On 25 June 2006, militant groups conducted a cross-border raid into Israel. The Israeli response left Hamas with half its parliamentary bloc and its cabinet ministers in the West Bank in Israeli custody.
Political deadlock The semi-constitutional and semi-presidential Basic Law gave President and Government a shared political power.The Impact of Semi-Presidentialism on Governance in the Palestinian Authority (pdf) , pp. 6, 9, 10-11, 16-17. Francesco Cavatorta and Robert Elgie. Parliam Affairs (2009). (Also in HTML version) p. 6: "the PA has a president-parliamentary form of semi-presidentialism"; p. 9: "The Basic Law of the Palestinian Authority is the equivalent of an interim constitution"; p. 11: ", the semi-presidential structures of the 2003 amended Basic Law highlighted and accelerated divisions between Hamas and Fatah ... Hamas offered Fatah a grand coalition, but Fatah refused"; p. 17: "The semi-presidential structure of the 2003 amended Basic Law was the source of this destabilising period of competition within the executive ... The creation of two competing centres of power with equal popular legitimacy raised the political stakes within the system as both actors tried to undermine the position of other." Fatah refused to cooperate with Hamas.TIMELINE: Key events since 2006 . Reuters, 20 June 2007 The powerful Fatah-backed President Abbas was supported by the international community and more or less tolerated by Israel. The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority and the parliament on the other hand were boycotted, and international financial aid was rendered via Abbas, bypassing the Palestinian Government. Because Fatah and Hamas did not co-operate, the parliament became dysfunctional and the PA suffered financial distress.
Involvement of US, Israel and Arab states