According to Shin Bet, the Israeli Security Agency, Gaza militants fired
more than 1,500 rockets at Israel during 2012 before Israel responded
on November 14 by killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari in a
targeted air strike. Since then, Israeli Defense Forces say some 850
rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel -- with more than 300
penetrating Israel's antimissile systems.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that "if Israel
were to put down its arms, there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs
were to put down their arms, there would be no more war."
* PALESTINIAN FACTIONS: HAMAS AND FATAH
Hamas is seen by its supporters as a legitimate resistance movement
against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in the West
Bank and Gaza.
Created in 1987 after the start of the first intifada against the
Israeli occupation, Hamas is -- according to its charter -- committed to
the destruction of Israel. Hamas officials say they can neither
recognize nor accept the existence of Israel until Israel recognizes
their existence.
Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections of 2006. But the
victory sparked tensions with the rival Fatah faction -- the secular
nationalist party of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas that controls
the West Bank. In fact, the two factions have been politically and
geographically divided since the tensions escalated into violence in
Gaza in June 2007.
The Politburo of Hamas, based almost entirely in nearby Arab countries,
traditionally had been more militant than the movement's domestic
political leadership in Gaza -- that is, until the Arab Spring changed
the dynamics of politics in the Middle East. Since then, Hamas leaders
in Gaza have increasingly argued that they are the movement's top
leadership.
* SYRIA AND PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD'S REGIME
Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine,
points to the Syrian uprising as a key regional development affecting
the foreign alliances of Hamas. The Hamas Politburo had close relations
with Iran and Syria through its headquarters in Damascus. But writing
recently in "Foreign Policy," Ibish noted that relations between Hamas
and the Syrian government "completely collapsed" after Hamas registered
opposition to the crackdown on dissent by President Bashar al-Assad's
regime. As a result, the Hamas Politburo was forced to abandon its
Damascus headquarters and its members scattered throughout the Arab
world.
* IRAN AND PRESIDENT MAHMUD AHMADINEJAD
Iran -- a key ally of Assad's regime in Syria -- also has been a key
supporter of Hamas for years. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in
2010 called Hamas the true representative of the Palestinian people.
That angered the rival Palestinian faction Fatah, which accused Iran of
trying to divide the Palestinian people and foment strife. Meanwhile,
Palestinian President Abbas said before the Arab Spring began that Hamas
was being funded mainly by Iran. Ibish says the closure of the Hamas
Politburo headquarters in Damascus has created "enormous strains with
Iran, which is apparently supplying much less funding and material to
Hamas than in the past." Nevertheless, Tehran continues to issue
statements in support of Hamas. In September, Ahmadinejad said Israel
was an "occupier" without roots in the Middle East and would be
"eliminated." Previously, Ahmadinejad called Israel a "tumor" and said
it should be wiped off the map.