Gaza's atomized Islamist agenda

The question of Palestine remains pending in the context of the upheavals sweeping the Middle East and new violence between groups inside Gaza and the Israeli Defense Forces threatening the relative stability upheld since the Gaza war in 2008-9.

Since Hamas' electoral victory in 2006 internal Palestinian politics has gone through a process of change and fragmentation increasingly displaying signs of autocratic government and stifling of civil society. This is the case in Fatah-ruled West Bank as well as in Hamas-dominated Gaza.

Hamas has been the authority in power in Gaza since 2007, despite international isolation. In a number of ways this has altered the agenda of the movement and has placed the organization in a dilemma between pragmatic governing and upholding its ideological integrity and promise of violent resistance and Islamization of Palestinian society. In this dilemma Hamas has chosen a pragmatic strategic approach. This, in turn, has atomized the Islamist agenda inside Gaza and antagonized the Islamist milieu from within. New Islamist groups have emerged and now challenge Hamas' monopoly to "represent Islam" and conduct armed resistance against Israeli occupation. They draw on ideas of global jihad, but remain tightly knit into their local fabric. The groups are small, constantly reconfiguring and operate on an ad-hoc basis, but they have the potential to trigger military clashes with Israel - with serious influence on the paths of the conflict.

Based on new empirical insights the present DIIS-report maps the Islamist milieu in Gaza. It offers a critical examination of how Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007 and seeks to answer the pressing question of why new Islamist groups in Gaza have emerged.