Hamas, Hezbollah & the PLO
Origins, ideology, and role of the main non-state actors around Israel.
Explainers in this topic
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The PLO, Fatah and the Palestinian Authority
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in May 1964. Fatah, the movement led by Yasser Arafat, took control of it in 1969 and still dominates it. The PLO's 1968 Charter called armed struggle the only way to liberate Palestine. On 9 September 1993 the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist. The Oslo agreements of 1993 and 1995 then created the Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestine National Council voted in 1996 to cancel the charter clauses that denied Israel's existence and reaffirmed this in 1998, though Israel disputed whether the legal process was complete. Hamas won the January 2006 legislative election and took Gaza by force in June 2007, which split Palestinian rule. Mahmoud Abbas has led the PLO and the PA since 2005 without a new election. The PA is in a fiscal crisis, and a presidential vote is promised for 2027.
Hezbollah and the Lebanon Front
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist movement and armed group. It was founded in 1982, during Israel's invasion of Lebanon, with money, training and ideology from Iran. It fought Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until Israel withdrew in May 2000, and the UN confirmed that withdrawal in June 2000. On 12 July 2006 Hezbollah crossed into Israel, killed eight soldiers and captured two, starting a war that lasted until 14 August 2006. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 ended that war. It barred all armed forces except the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers from the area south of the Litani River. Hezbollah rearmed anyway. It also sits in parliament and has held cabinet posts. From 8 October 2023 it fired on Israel. That led to war in 2024 and a ceasefire on 27 November 2024. Renewed war began on 2 March 2026, and a truce has been in place since June 2026.
Hamas
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, was founded in the Gaza Strip in December 1987, at the start of the first intifada. Its founders were members of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Its 1988 charter called all of historic Palestine an Islamic trust and said the only solution was jihad. Its 2017 document kept the goal of liberating Palestine "from the river to the sea" and refused to recognise Israel. It also called a Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 lines a "formula of national consensus." Hamas won 74 of 132 seats in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election. In June 2007 it took sole control of Gaza by force. A Shura Council and a political bureau lead the movement, and its armed wing is the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Iran supplies money, weapons and training. The United States has listed Hamas as a terrorist organisation since October 1997. Hamas led the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people.