- Hamas set up in the 1980s, aim is to create a fundamentalist Islamic Palestinian state
- Group's founding document advocates the destruction of the state of Israel
- Hamas is viewed as a terrorist organization by U.S., EU, UK
- Its social welfare program means it is popular with Gaza residents
(CNN) -- Four years after the last major conflict in the region, Israel and Hamas are once again on the brink of war in Gaza. So what is the group, and what does it hope to achieve by its rocket attacks on Israeli targets?
What is Hamas?
Hamas is a militant fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the West Bank and Gaza. The name Hamas is an acronym for "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia," or Islamic Resistance Movement in English. The word "hamas" means zeal in Arabic.
Hamas has sections dedicated to religious, military, political and security activities. It runs a social welfare program, and operates a number of schools, hospitals and religious institutions. It also has about 12,500 security personnel.
What are its aims?
Hamas's goal is an Islamic fundamentalist Palestinian state. Its original manifesto advocated the destruction of the state of Israel, and called for the raising of "the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine."
Current Hamas president Khaled Meshaal has previously said the group would support a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders (prior to the Six-Day War, during which Israeli troops occupied Gaza) , with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Hamas's refusal to recognize the state of Israel is one reason why it's been excluded from peace talks. In 1993, it opposed the Oslo Accords, a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Blasts interrupt interview in Gaza Is conflict beginning of ground attack?
Speaking following the most recent outbreak of violence, Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said: "Hamas is an enemy of peace. [It] is dedicated to destroying the state of Israel; they say that any Palestinian who negotiates peace with Israel is a traitor."
Hamas members, however, insist that Israel is an occupying power, and that the group is simply trying to liberate the Palestinian territories. When an Israeli airstrike killed the group's military leader, Ahmed Ja'abari, Hamas warned Israel that "the occupation has opened the gates of hell on itself."
What are its origins?
The group was established in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as an alternative to the PLO. Yassin and other Muslim Brotherhood-linked activists had set up a network of charities, schools and clinics in the West Bank and Gaza in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
However, the founding charter of Hamas, published in 1988, called for jihad, or holy war, and marked a decisive split with the Muslim Brotherhood's philosophy of nonviolence.
The following year, Yassin was convicted by an Israeli court of ordering Hamas members to kidnap and kill two Israeli soldiers. Released from jail in 1997, Yassin was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2004.
The group began carrying out suicide bombings on civilian and military Israeli targets in the mid 1990s. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Hamas is believed to have killed more than 500 people in more than 350 separate terrorist attacks since 1993.
What is its role in Gaza?
Hamas operates schools, hospitals and religious institutions, soup kitchens and orphanages in Gaza and the West Bank, and runs an effective social welfare program in the territories, cementing the group's popularity among Palestinians.
After boycotting elections for many years, Hamas participated in Palestinian parliamentary polls for the first time in 2006. Running as the "Change and Reform Party," the group won a landslide victory, securing a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Leading Hamas member Ismail Haniya was appointed Palestinian prime minister, but was dismissed the following year when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the government. Haniya, though, rejected Abbas' actions, and remains the de facto political leader in Gaza.
The Israel Defense Forces have accused Hamas of turning the Gaza Strip into "a frontal base for Iran, forcing Israeli citizens to live under unbearable circumstances."
Israel also accuses Hamas of using civilians in Gaza as a "human shield," and the territory's schools and hospitals as a cover for military hardware. "They bury their military infrastructure inside civilian areas," Israeli spokesman Regev told CNN.
Where does its support stem from?
Hamas has an annual budget of $70 million, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Much of its financial backing comes from expatriate Palestinians, private donors in the Middle East, and Muslim charities in the West.
It receives significant financial aid -- as well as arms and training -- from Iran. Since its election win in 2006, it has also had public funding. Hamas enjoys widespread support from the general population in Gaza, thanks to its social welfare program. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, "[its] efforts in this area -- as well as a reputation for honesty, in contrast to the many Fatah officials accused of corruption -- help to explain its broad popularity."
What is the international community's view?
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel, the UK and the European Union. In the wake of the 2008-2009 Gaza Conflict, in which more than 1,400 people were killed, the United Nations' Goldstone Report found that rocket attacks by Hamas constituted war crimes, and may have amounted to crimes against humanity. (The Goldstone Report also found that Israeli forces had committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during the conflict.)
Human Rights Watch has accused Hamas authorities in Gaza of war crimes, of violating international humanitarian law, and of meting out cruel and inhuman treatment to detainees.
What is its relationship with Fatah?
Like Hamas, Fatah was once dedicated to launching attacks on Israel. However, Fatah became part of the PLO in the 1960s, and in 1993, Fatah and the PLO renounced violence and recognized Israel's right to exist.
As a result, Fatah, which controls the West Bank, is considered more moderate, and while Hamas is viewed as a terrorist group, Fatah enjoys the support of Western nations including the U.S.
Fatah and Hamas were estranged for several years after Fatah lost its majority in the Palestinian parliament to Hamas in 2006. The rift was partially healed when the two groups signed a reconciliation deal in May 2011, linking the one-time rivals in their goal to establish a Palestinian state.
The unity agreement was met with mixed reactions from the international community -- former U.S. President Jimmy Carter insisted "the accord could lead to a durable cease-fire." However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal "a tremendous blow to peace, and a great victory for terrorism."
Relatives take cover from a rocket attack during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malachi, Israel, on Friday, November 16. At least three people were killed in the Israeli town when a rocket fired from Gaza struck an apartment building there on Thursday. Fighting between Israel and Hamas militants persisted Friday with no immediate end in sight. 
A rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel sails into the air Friday. 
Explosions erupt from spots targeted by Israeli airstrikes inside Gaza on Friday. 
Israeli soldiers stand guard while explosives experts examine the site where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed near the Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion in the village of Kisan, south of Bethlehem on Friday. 
A relative grieves during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, on Friday. 
Palestinian protesters hold up the Hamas flag during a rally Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 
People take cover during a rocket attack at a funeral Friday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel. 
Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli security forces Friday in a West Bank village near Bethlehem. 
An Israeli soldier aims at Palestinian youth at a West Bank checkpoint Friday during a protest against the fighting in Gaza. 
Palestinian Fares Sadallah, 11, cries outside his home after an Israeli airstrike Friday in northern Gaza. 
Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a blaze Friday at the Ministry of Interior in Gaza City following an Israeli air raid. 
Relatives of Itzik Amsalam, who was killed Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, mourn during Friday's funeral. 
A woman cries during the funeral of Itzik Amsalam on Friday. 
An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister toward Palestinian stone throwers on a road mainly used by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Beit Omar on Friday. 
Palestinians run for cover after an Israeli airstrike hits Gaza City on Friday. 
Palestinian youths inspect a destroyed mosque in northern Gaza on Friday. 
Israeli soldiers conduct a patrol as some 16,000 reserve troops are drafted in on Friday. 
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Audi Naser during his funeral in Gaza on Friday. 
Palestinian women and children cry during the funeral of Audi Naser on Friday. 
Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Civilian Affairs branch of the Ministry of Interior on Friday. 
Smokes billows from a target of an Israeli airstrike Friday in Gaza near the border with Israel. 
An Israeli woman looks out from an apartment building in Ashdod, Israel, damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants on Friday. 
Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Interior Ministry building in Gaza City Friday. 
Israelis take cover in a pipe used as a bomb shelter, after a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, November 15 in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. Rockets and shells crisscrossed between Israel and Gaza on Thursday as Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel pounded what it called terror sites. 
An Israeli man looks out from an apartment building that was hit by a rocket launched presumably from the Gaza Strip, claiming three lives on Thursday in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. 
Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli air strikes targeted an electricity generator that fed the house of Hamas's Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, on Thursday. 
A crater is left at a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City early Thursday. 
Israeli soldiers rest by their armored personnel carriers stationed on the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday. 
Rescue workers evacuate a body Thursday in the Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi after a rocket launched from Gaza hit an apartment building. 
Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Hanen Tafish, a 10-month-old girl, at the morgue of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday after she died following an Israeli air strike in the Zeitun neighbourhood. 
Palestinians watch a funeral Thursday in southern Gaza. 
A Palestinian pleads for help as he and others try to save a man trapped under his car after an Israeli air raid Thursday in northern Gaza. 
Israeli police inspect an apartment building hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Kiryat Malakhi on Thursday. At least three Israelis were killed and four were wounded, an Israeli police spokesman said. 
The Israeli military launches a missile Thursday from the southern city of Beersheba. 
A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike inside Gaza on Thursday. 
A Palestinian man inspects his damaged house following an Israeli airstrike early Thursday in Gaza City. 
An Israeli reacts after a rocket launched from Gaza hits a building Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi. 
Palestinian firefighters extinguish the blaze from the car of Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, after an Israeli airstrike hit it in Gaza City on Wednesday, November 14. The Israeli strike killed al-Jaabari. 
A woman sits inside a bomb shelter Wednesday in Netivot, Israel. 
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike Wednesday in Khan Younis, Gaza. 
Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from the car in which al-Jaabari was apparently riding. 
A Palestinian man cries as security forces wheel al-Jaabari's body into a hospital. 
Palestinian youths look inside a building where al-Jaabari's body was brought after the attack. 
A wounded Palestinian girl cries at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. 
Palestinian youths evacuate an elderly man following an Israeli airstrike. 
Palestinian civilians leave their houses following an Israeli airstrike. 
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