Hamas, a so-called liberation movement, was voted into power as the governing party by the Palestinian people of Gaza in 2006. The group immediately engaged in armed conflict with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and his Fatah faction, and forcibly removed them from Gaza, including by throwing at least one official off the 15th floor of a building. Hamas also undertook a jihad (holy war) against the neighbouring country of Israel by attempting to kill Israelis or drive them away to take control of the land.
