Geopolitical Neighbors: Examining Hamas And Afghanistan's Proximity

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist political and military movement that has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007. It is considered a terrorist organisation by several countries, including the US, the UK, the EU, Australia, Canada, and Japan. Hamas has carried out attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, including suicide bombings and indiscriminate rocket attacks.

Hamas is headquartered in Gaza, which is located in the Middle East, bordering Israel and Egypt. Afghanistan is located in South Asia, thousands of miles away from Hamas. However, there are some indirect connections between Hamas and Afghanistan.

The Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan has emboldened extremists across the globe, including Hamas. The Taliban's victory has restored Afghanistan to being a safe haven for terrorist groups. There are reports that US weapons left behind in Afghanistan after the 2021 retreat have ended up in the hands of Hamas. Additionally, the Taliban and Hamas have expressed mutual support for each other's causes.

While Hamas and Afghanistan are geographically distant, there are ideological and operational links between the two, which have increased following the Taliban's return to power.

Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military movement that has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007

Hamas is the largest and most capable militant group in the Palestinian territories and one of the territories' two major political parties. It is committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel's place.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.

Hamas has a host of leadership bodies that perform various political, military, and social functions. It has both an internal leadership within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and an external leadership, split between a Gaza group and a Kuwaiti group.

Hamas has been responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis and wounding thousands more through suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and other violent means.

Hamas has also been accused of extrajudicial killings of rivals, including suspected Palestinian Israel collaborators and Fatah rivals.

Hamas has been supported by Iran, Turkey, and Qatar, among other countries.

Hamas is opposed by its rival party, Fatah, which dominates the Palestine Liberation Organization and rules in the West Bank. Fatah has formally renounced violence, though it has not always upheld that vow.

Hamas was founded by Palestinian imam and activist Ahmed Yassin in 1987, after the outbreak of the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation

Hamas is an Islamist militant group that was founded by Palestinian imam and activist Ahmed Yassin in 1987, after the outbreak of the First Intifada against the Israeli occupation. It is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, which means "Islamic Resistance Movement". Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military movement that has governed the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip since 2007.

Hamas has a host of leadership bodies that perform various political, military, and social functions. It has been designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union.

Hamas has carried out attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, including suicide bombings and indiscriminate rocket attacks. These actions have led human rights groups to accuse it of war crimes.

Hamas's attacks on Israel in 2023 were different from its previous attacks. It was an extraordinary attack in terms of its strategy, scale, and secrecy. It began early on October 7, the Jewish Sabbath and an important Jewish holiday, with Hamas launching several thousand rockets into southern and central Israel. Hamas militants also breached the heavily fortified Gaza border and infiltrated many southern Israeli towns and villages, killing nearly 1,200 people and wounding and kidnapping scores more.

Hamas's attacks on Israel have been condemned by several countries. The United Nations rejected a US resolution aimed at unilaterally condemning Hamas for Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and other violence.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries, including the US, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

The US designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in 1995, and it is currently listed as a "Foreign Terrorist Organisation". The UK designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in November 2021. The EU designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in 2003, and this was upheld by the European Court of Justice in July 2017. Australia designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in 2022. Canada designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in November 2002. New Zealand designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in January 2024.

Hamas has been banned in Jordan, and is regarded as a terrorist organisation by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hamas has a host of leadership bodies that perform various political, military, and social functions

Ismail Haniyeh currently serves as political chief, having replaced longtime leader Khaled Meshaal in 2017. Haniyeh has operated from Doha, Qatar, since 2020, reportedly because Egypt restricts his movement into and out of Gaza.

Day-to-day affairs in Gaza are overseen by Yahya Sinwar, who previously headed Hamas’s military wing and served twenty-two years in an Israeli prison for masterminding the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers. He was among the more than one thousand Palestinian prisoners freed in 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Hamas. As of June 2021, Gaza’s de facto prime minister is Issam al-Da’alis.

Internal elections that concluded in 2021 gave Meshaal leadership of Hamas’s diaspora office, while Salameh Katawi was elected to manage the affairs of imprisoned members. Deputy politburo chairman and Lebanon affairs director Saleh al-Arouri was voted leader of the group’s West Bank branch, a post he held until his January 2024 death by a suspected Israeli drone strike.

Marwan Issa and Mohammed Deif jointly commanded Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, until Issa was reportedly killed by an Israeli air strike in March 2024, though his death is not yet confirmed. Israeli forces killed Yassin, Hamas’s founder, in 2004.

Iran is one of Hamas's biggest benefactors, providing it with funding, weapons, and training

Hamas is an Islamist militant group that has controlled the Gaza Strip for nearly two decades. It violently rejects Israel's existence. In October 2023, Hamas infiltrated southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking dozens more hostage.

Hamas has a host of leadership bodies that perform various political, military, and social functions. General policy is set by an overarching consultative body, often called the politburo, which operates in exile. Local committees manage grassroots issues in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas has historically received funding from Palestinian expatriates and private donors in the Persian Gulf. Today, Iran is one of Hamas's biggest benefactors, contributing funds, weapons, and training. Though Iran and Hamas briefly fell out after backing opposing sides in Syria's civil war, Iran provides some $100 million annually to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.

Iran has provided Hamas with technical help for manufacturing rockets and drones with advanced guidance systems, in addition to training in military tactics — some of which occurred in camps outside Gaza.

The relationship between Hamas and Iran was further strengthened by Iran’s efforts to foster the Hamas rocket program. In 2014, IRGC missile commander Ahmed Hosseini disclosed that years earlier, Hamas operatives had been “armed and trained by Hezbollah...Some of them even came to Iran for training.” He specified that the architect of Iran’s own missile program, IRGC general Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, was the one “who armed them and guided them.”

In addition to providing funding, weapons, and training, Iran has also helped Hamas build its own indigenous capability to produce rockets. Years ago, Iranian rockets were smuggled from Egypt through Sinai into Gaza. But after President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi came to power, Egypt closed many of the tunnels that connected Sinai to Gaza, and Iran began helping Hamas develop an indigenous capability.

Hamas's attack on Israel in 2023 showcased an unprecedented level of support and coordination with Iran and its network of regional allies, an anti-West, anti-Israel coalition known as the axis of resistance. The Wall Street Journal reports that Hamas likely planned the October 7 attack with Iran's knowledge, if not its direct authorization, though U.S. and Israeli officials have said they have no evidence of this.

The axis's subsequent attacks on Israel-linked targets, particularly by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis, have raised fears that the war in Gaza will balloon into a regional conflagration.

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