Israel’s secret 1980s support for Hamas: 2025 update

Recent studies and expert opinions reveal that, contrary to the public narrative, there is significant evidence suggesting Israel engaged in clandestine support for Hamas during the 1980s and 1990s. This covert assistance was primarily aimed at weakening the secular Palestinian movement, particularly the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and its main faction, Fatah, which at the time represented a significant political and military challenge to Israel’s regional interests. Israeli officials sought to support Islamist factions as a way to counterbalance these secular nationalist groups, hoping that Islamist groups like Hamas would divert Palestinian resistance efforts away from the PLO and Fatah.

For instance, former Knesset members and military analysts such as Avner Cohen and Yitzhak Segev have explicitly acknowledged that Israel provided financial support and logistical assistance to the early Hamas leadership, particularly to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas’s spiritual and military core. 

This support included the building and expansion of mosques, charities, and social services, with some Israeli officials believing these efforts would serve as a social counterweight to secular threats. Over time, however, the relationship became increasingly complex, with many former Israeli officials admitting that initial support helped Hamas consolidate influence in Gaza, which later evolved into a regional and international security challenge.

International pressure on Israel regarding Hamas

International bodies are putting added pressure on Israel after its recent actions in Gaza, which have led to the deaths of many people in recent days. If Israel refuses to end the attack and continues blocking supplies for Gaza, the leaders of the UK, France, and Canada threatened Monday to use targeted economic measures.

Just after US President Donald Trump left Gaza without concluding a ceasefire and hostage agreement, Israel unleashed a new, catastrophic ground offensive over the weekend. As part of the “Gideon’s Chariots” operation, the Israeli military said its forces had advanced into northern and southern Gaza throughout the previous day. Israel threatened to carry out this operation if Hamas refused to accept a new hostage agreement on its terms.

The ground operation followed days of intense bombardment that killed entire families in the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials. In response to strong pressure from allies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intimated that Israel might permit a “basic amount of food” to enter the beleaguered enclave. The Israeli agency that authorizes assistance supplies into Gaza said that five trucks had entered the territory. 

Recent military developments 2025

In May 2025, Israel launched Operation Gideon’s Chariots, a major ground in northern and southern Gaza designed to  master Hamas, recover hostages, and pressure Hamas into accommodations conducted largely on Israeli terms. 

This military  trouble followed the breakdown of a ceasefire in March 2025 and included  violent  ceasefires that devastated Gaza’s  structure and resulted in significant casualties. Under strong  transnational pressure, Israel agreed to allow a limited “quantity of food ” into Gaza to  help the shortage amidst the  blockage. Still, transnational calls for a comprehensive ceasefire and a full resumption of  humanitarian aid remain  undetermined, keeping the region tense and fragile. 

What is Israel’s new strategy towards Hamas?

Gideon’s Chariots is the title of the recent military operation Israel launched in Gaza, happening since May 2025. There are major attacks on both northern and southern Gaza, supported by lots of airstrikes. The declared goals include defeating Hamas, returning hostages held by the group, and placing pressure on Hamas in the current negotiations, all intended to help Israeli forces increase their control over much of Gaza.

The next part of this letter details important facts about Operation Gideon’s Chariots:

• It comes after Israel abandoned a ceasefire deal with Hamas in March 2025, which led to an escalation and a complete blockade of Gaza that lasted more than two months.
• Hamas and Israel started indirect talks on a ceasefire in Doha, led by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, at the start of the operation.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that operations in Gaza are meant to control its activities, and he is ready to move Palestinians within the area if there is a need.
• Many Palestinians, including reporters and unarmed people, have died because of fierce shelling in the fighting. Since the operation began, 144 Palestinians have lost their lives, and much of their infrastructure has been heavily damaged.
• To ensure the military effort is not endangered by a humanitarian crisis, Israel has agreed to send in a “basic amount of food” to Gaza.
• Despite the absence of big urban offensives in Gaza’s centers, satellite maps suggest that Israeli tanks have gathered near Gaza’s western and southern borders as well as close to Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah.
• The United States maintained pressure for this operation to happen sooner, and it matches a larger strategy to convince Hamas to give up or negotiate with Israel only on Israel’s terms.

What is the situation with aid to Hamas?

Israel will permit a “basic amount of food” to enter Gaza due to “operational need,” according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, to avoid famine in the enclave, which Israel claims would endanger its military operation. The UN admitted that although some of its trucks were permitted entry at the Kerem Shalom crossing, considerably more assistance was required. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza requires at least 500 assistance trucks every day. 

The UN had warned that after 19 months of fighting and widespread displacement, starvation was a real threat to Gaza’s entire population of over 2.1 million people. The Israeli government has been urged by ‌leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada to halt its military actions in Gaza and permit the passage of humanitarian aid. “We will take further concrete actions in response if Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid,” the leaders said in a joint statement. They cautioned that those measures might involve specific penalties.

In response, Netanyahu charged that the leaders were “inviting more such atrocities” to occur and “offering a huge prize” to the Hamas fighters who attacked Israel on October 7. 23 foreign ministers, including those from France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as EU representatives, called on Israel to permit “a full resumption” of aid into Gaza right away and to give the UN and humanitarian organizations the freedom to “work independently and impartially to save lives” in a separate joint statement.

Humanitarian crisis data

As of early 2025, the war in Gaza has led to the deaths of over  52,000 Palestinians, with vast damage to domestic  structures, health  installations, and essential  structures. The United Nations advised about a brewing  shortage hanging  the population of  further than 2.1 million people in Gaza, aggravated by  blockades on food,  drug, and energy. 

Western governments including the UK, France, and Canada have pressed Israel to ease restrictions to allow sufficient  humanitarian relief. Meanwhile, Israeli  officers perceive some  transnational demands as jeopardising military operations against Hamas, illustrating the  delicate balance between security and  humanitarian precedents amid the conflict. 

International pressure

Growing pressure from international allies ,similar to the US Senate and other Western governments,  upset about the  humanitarian  catastrophe and  hunger in Gaza, affected Israel’s decision to permit limited aid. Far-right lawgivers in Israel, on the other hand, have denounced the action, claiming that permitting aid compromises the military trouble against Hamas. 

There are severe food,  drug, and ceasefire deaths as a result of the siege and  nonstop military operations. According to UN  enterprises,  numerous Palestinians have  formally  decomposed from malnutrition and a lack of access to healthcare, and  14,000 babies in Gaza might starve to death within 48 hours. 

With intentions to begin operations by the end of May 2025, a Gaza Humanitarian Fund has been established to oversee the disbursement of aid. 

Why is there a conflict between Israel and Hamas?

The armed organization and political movement Hamas came into being in 1987 as a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas rejects Israel and prefers the creation of an Islamic state, encompassing all the areas of ancient Palestine, including Israel’s territory, the West Bank, and Gaza. Now and then, it has suggested that it could recognize a temporary Palestinian state within the West Bank and Gaza without giving up its original ambitions.

Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections came after bloody clashes with the opposition Fatah movement, and it took over Gaza in 2007. After 2007, its power over Gaza began, and it has regularly engaged in violent hostilities with Israel.

Palestinians protest against the growth of Israeli settlements and the occupation of both the West Bank and East Jerusalem, acts forbidden by international law. Palestinian claims to becoming a state are rejected by Israel, which says it must consider its safety, especially when the right wing holds power.

Hamas has struck at Israel by firing rockets and carrying out raids across the border with Israel. Because of this, Israel has invaded areas, conducted air raids, and used the military to weaken Hamas’ capacity. There have been big losses on both sides because of these repeated instances of violence.

Hamas political context

Arising from the Muslim Brotherhood in 1987, Hamas developed as an Islamist resistance movement rejecting the  legality of Israel and  championing for an Islamic state over  major Palestine. Hamas’ electoral palm in 2006 came after violent clashes with the rival Fatah movement, leading to its control over Gaza since 2007. 

Israel and Egypt have maintained  blockades of Gaza since  also, citing security threats. Hamas’ attacks and  irruptions into Israeli homes have provoked repeated military responses, bedding a violent cycle that has  inspired  transnational concern and impeded peace efforts. These political and militant  progressions must be understood within the broader Palestinian  public and indigenous  environment. 

Israeli-Palestinian conflict longer history

The ongoing Israel- Hamas conflict forms part of the  prolonged Arab- Israeli conflicts following Israel’s 1948 independence. crucial wars like 1948, 1967’s Six- Day War, and ongoing skirmishes over territories have shaped the borders, demographics, and pressures in the region. 

Hamas represents one dimension of the broader Palestinian nationalist struggles, with repeated ceasefires, peace talks, and breakdowns marking the difficult path to resolution. Placing current Hamas-Israel strife into this historical continuum helps readers grasp the enduring nature and complexity of the conflict.

Ceasefire and hostage negotiations 2025

The 2025 conflict has involved complex brokering of ceasefire talks mainly mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. While temporary hostage releases have occurred, many remain held by Hamas as leverage. 

In parallel, Israel maintains a militarily vigilant posture, including threats toward Iranian nuclear sites, reflecting the geopolitical depth of the conflict. The ongoing hostage and ceasefire negotiations underscore the fragile, multifaceted nature of peace attempts as international players continue engagement.

Final words: Did Israel support Hamas?

Differences over land, identities, and guarantees play the most important role in the violent conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israel tries to defend its population and keep the lands in dispute, but Hamas opposes Israel’s existence and demands that Palestine be a sole state over all of historic Palestine. Repeated phases of fighting and broken attempts at peace have resulted in terrible suffering for people on both sides.