Hamas, Popular Support and War in the Middle East
Insurgency in the Holy Land
Contemporary Terrorism Studies Series

This book offers a new understanding of the nature of power-seeking insurgent groups by empirically examining the use of violence by Hamas in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.

Though Hamas has learned to ride the tides of popular support, it remains suspended between its quest to achieve the values of its ardent supporters (reclamation of land through force) and the desire to grow popular support. This tension is reflected in how and when the group exercises violent resistance. The theoretical framework applied in this volume provides a simple construct to understand the dynamics that result in use and non-use of violence under changing environmental conditions by Hamas, but could be applied more broadly to other power-seeking insurgent groups, including ISIL. The book weaves together the dynamics between violent actions and internal and external influences on Hamas, including: expressed values of the group, Palestinian popular support measures, leaders? personalities and innovation (weapons and tactics), Israeli influence and targeted killings, peace processes and conflicts in Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. With newly assembled datasets on Hamas? violent acts and public statements, Israeli Targeted Killings, historical measures of popular support and extensive field interviews, the book offers a fresh perspective on insurgent group violence by demonstrating under what conditions the group exercises violence or refrains from doing so.

This book will be of much interest to both policy makers and students of the Arab-Israeli conflict, political violence, Middle Eastern politics, security studies and international relations in general.

1. Hamas and the Palestinians as a Case Study 2. The Science of Armed Groups, Ethno-Nationalism, Insurgencies and Terrorism 3. The Origins and Structure of Hamas 4. Armed Resistance, Weapons, Domestic & Foreign Relations 5. Foundation Era: The First Intifada, Capturing Palestinian Sentiment and the Hunt for Weapons 6. Oslo Era: The Engineer, Israeli ‘Finger-Tip’ Policy, the Rise of Netanyahu & Mishal, Support for Violence and the Destruction of Oslo 7. 2nd Intifada Era: Intifada, Israeli Targeted Killing, Shifting Interests of Hamas and the Confluence of Events that Temporarily Suspend Hamas’s Use of Violence 8. Election Era: The Strange Road to Election Victory, Failed Reconciliation and Pathway to Civil War 9. Governance Era Part One: ‘No to Dinner, How About Lunch?’, Gaza, Tax, Tunnels and Gaza War I 10. Governance Era Part Two: Building Hamastan, Egyptian and Syrian Revolutions, Pathway to Gaza War II 11. Pathway Pathway to Reconciliation Deux, Kidnappings, Gaza War III, Turning the Keys over to Fatah and the Implications of ISIL 12. Determinants of Hamas Violence and Implications for Other Power-Seeking Insurgent Groups

Richard Davis (a former policy director at The White House) is the CEO and Managing Senior Fellow of Artis International and a Founding Fellow of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict in Harris Manchester College and the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. He is also a Professor of Practice in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University.