Quote:Where did the terror organization called Hamas first come from? What is the true origins of Hamas? They are an off shoot break off faction from the Muslim brotherhood who also broke off from a charity organization created in the 1960s. Then in 1973 a Palestinian Cleric named Sheikh Ahmed Yassin helped establish an islamic charity organization called Mujama al-Islamiya also known as the Islamic Center. This group is the precursor to Hamas. Yassin was a refugee of the Arab-Israeli War. A childhood sports accident left him wheelchair bound. Yassin’s charity group registered with Israel in 1978 as a non profit Non Government Organization. Although the name wouldn’t officially be used until January 1988 when they published their charter outlining their reason for existing, calling for armed resistance to establish a Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. Hamas envisioned a Palestinian state that would cover all of the territory that had previously belonged to the British Mandate for Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. In 1989, the Israeli government arrested Sheikh Yassin was arrested and sentenced him to life in prison for ordering the killing of Palestinians who had allegedly collaborated to help the Israeli army. In the summer of 1991 they organized into newly formed armed militia units called the Al-Qassam brigades. At the same time, an engineering graduate named Yahya Ayyash joined Hamas and put his engineering skills to work for the group building bombs. Nicknamed “the Engineer” , Hamas first used Kamikaze bombings in April 1993. They condemned the 1993 Oslo Accords and rejected the deal. This agreement created the Palestinian Authority that was intended to be an interim self-governing body with the responsibility of managing certain aspects of civil governance in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The expectation was that the Palestinian Authority would eventually be replaced by a democratically elected government. The idea was to help Palestinians reach self determination for their government. The expectation was that final negotiations would eventually address core issues like where the exact borders would be drawn, the status of Jerusalem, and the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state. The terror organzation got the vast majority of its funding from Iran. Israel has had success in fighting the group over the years militarily but it's been a difficult group to destroy entirely.