A PMESII Analysis on Hamas

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Introduction (BLUF)

Hamas is a military and political group based in the Gaza Strip. Its interest lies in annihilating Israel, which is a strategic ally to the United States, thus explaining the need to intervene. The group is a highly organized and secretive organization with a global network of assistance. Infiltration will thus require a deep cover operation not less than two years. The covert operation should target its supply chains and money distribution channels, including in Iran and Damascus. I would suggest a highly cyber-based security system to monitor the operation. The mission’s urgency should be alpha, given the growing insurgency of the group and the recent change in power in Israel.

Political

Hamas is a military and governmental organization based in the Gaza strip. It inherited a deep governmental and political organization from the Egyptian Islamic Brotherhood. The nature of its political structure and its intricacy is not clearly known in the public domain. However, it is organized into Consultative councils. The consultative councils are the major governing bodies of Hamas and are called Majlis al-Shura (Hroub, 2010). The council is the major embodiment of democracy in the Hamas political ranks as it is elected by members of the local council. Representatives to the council come from Gaza, Israel prison, West Bank, and leaders in Exile. The organization also has a service wing that provides a coordinated charity in the Gaza Strip and Palestine. Hamas has adopted a contrary approach to its recruitment, and unlike Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), it is involved in Charity works through the social service wing. Through the Dawah infrastructure, the group has established a charitable provision from which its militant activities are carried out (Hannase, 2020).

The group is, however, faced with constant opposition and bickering from the Fatah party and has won the majority seats in the Palestinian Legislative Authority. The organization is also under critical watch by other nations, such as the United States, whose Assembly’s decision was nullified in call Hamas, a terrorist organization to reduce its funding. However, among the countries that have referred to the organization as terrorists include Japan and Australia. Iran, however, has strategic ties to the organization and has been a strong supporter of its cause against the European Union and the United Nations. Israel has a major interest in Hamas due to the allegations by the Hamas’ political ranks that Israel took over Palestinian land. Among the major Human rights organizations that have had a great interest in Hamas is the Human rights watch, which has often blamed Israeli and Hamas over civilian deaths.

Analyst Comment. The fact that Hamas’ political structure is highly localized yet democratic in nature makes its decision-making slow. However, the democratic nature of the organization enables negotiations such as hostage and ceasefire possible. Hamas’s political structure, however, comes from various fronts worldwide. Its ties to its predecessor, the Muslim Brotherhood, coupled with its secrecy in its political structure, make power concentration hard to determine. As such, therefore, fighting against the group may be difficult unless with the help of seasoned agents of which, the MOSSAD plays a critical role. The hiddenness of recruitment in charity makes infiltration of the organization easy; thus, any operation should start as covert before full-scale tactics are employed.

Military

Hamas has a separate wing called The Executive Force (The Brigades). It was formed in 1992 to provide Hamas with an armed option to achieve its objectives. The wing is divided into independent cells. The cells are highly specialized while remaining attached to the rest of the organization. While the Brigades are an independent part of Hamas, it is also a part of the political structure of Hamas. In 2005, Hamas was blamed for using its charity work to service selfish interests (Cohen, 2009). It is notable that these interests were majorly military and terrorist in nature. The Hamas Military wing is under both internal leaderships based within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The external leadership is split between Gaza, led by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, and Kuwait under Khaled Mashal. However, the internal strings of the military organization are highly secretive due to Mossad Infiltration and assassination. The Brigades recruits its members from its social service activities. It uses churches, sporting services, student unions, and mosque services to recruit its members. In 2014, Hamas had an estimated 20000 fighters. An additional 20000 men and women in the police force fill its army as ground roots attach. According to the Senior IDF Commander says, Hamas has 30,000 men, 7,000 rockets, dozens of drones (2021), and an extra 25000 work in Gaza security agencies. Israeli intelligence hints that within its manpower, Hamas has about 700 highly skilled personnel trained in Iran.

Hamas boasts of a highly skilled army. Israeli estimates that the army has about 7000 rockets and approximately 300 antitank missiles. The army also wields 100 anti-aircraft missiles. However, according to The Times of Israel, these are estimates from the commander of Hamas. The army may have less or more.

Analyst Comment. The Hamas military wing is highly organized and armed. Its secretive nature, independence, and specialization make its infiltration difficult. It is thus difficult to infiltrate it through the political cluster of Hamas. However, the political cluster of Hamas is important in infiltrating the Military wing, especially through its social services. However, its clustered nature in cells means that it may be difficult to pinpoint its sources of strength and leadership without large-scale compromise of operations. As such, therefore, to cripple the army, highly covert operations employing insiders with better affiliations to both military and political structures of Hamas are important. Of importance is to understand the source of its military funding. An infiltration from above and below is the best method to cripple the organization. It is noteworthy that any flawed operation may endanger not only military personnel but also civilians and lead to large-scale vengeful wars.

Economic

Hamas has established a wide network of resources in and outside the Middle East. Since the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Hamas has grown to control large territories, including Palestine and Gaza. Gaza’s economy is secret due to low information leakage. However, the international monetary fund (IMF) estimated that by 2010, Gaza and the West bank had a cumulative GDP of seven billion dollars (Gaza’s economy: How Hamas stays in power, n.d). The money is generated from Hamas’s extra-Palestinian sympathizers and friends through the Palestinian banking system. The Strip receives up to two billion dollars per year through these banks. However, there are allegations that some resources are shipped through robust tunnel systems that Hamas has created. The information has less credibility except for the extensive Israeli discovery of tunnels in Israel and Gaza. Most of these funds are, however, channeled by Hamas to pay salaries and charity works. The funds are also used to acquire fuel, water, and electricity. The United Nations also provides relief contributions to Gaza amounting to 200 million dollars with 250 million dollars worth of goods annually to Gaza. Attributively, Hamas, while controlling the Palestinian legislature, has a heavy hand on these resources.

Additionally, the group receives a cumulative of about 200 million from Iran annually (Flanigan, 2012). Hamas also raises funds through taxes in Gaza strips. The group imposes heavy taxes on consumer goods such as cigarettes. It has also instituted business regulatory policies that raise revenue on its behalf. The group, besides controlling all security agencies in Gaza, has resolved to purchase major businesses such as insurance, banks, including the Islamic Bank, shopping malls, and agricultural farms. Therefore, the group is economically multifaceted. Discretionally, the group, registers its businesses in the name of straw owners and Hamas Cadre individuals.

Analyst Comment. From an analytical point of view, Hamas’s major funding is charities and Iranian contributions. Without these contributions, Hamas may not survive comfortably. It is noteworthy that despite heavy sanctions from countries such as Israel, the group has survived. Its survival is attributable to its economic diversity. Its economic structure is thus both easy and hard to infiltrate. It is easy to infiltrate due to its single channel target of funds. The group mostly channels its funds to Damascus. However, infiltration may be difficult due to the diversity that makes it difficult to cripple, especially when civilians are in the picture.

Social

Hamas has a tight social structure based on its Hamas Charter. The charter stipulates the position of each gender in religious and nationalistic projects. It stipulates that women are important for manufacturing males and raring for adulthood. The charter that allows them to participate in liberation wars explains the regularity of female suicide missionaries. Hamas does not allow women without Hijab, card playing, or any immodest dressing. However, Hamas has committed forceful actions against women, not allowing their autonomy. On the other hand, men are fighters, organizers, and liberators. Hamas is thus an organized social group guided by only Islamic law. Past conflicts include the Palestinian Fatah on the view of women’s roles.

Analyst Comment. Playing a culture card could be an easy way to earn the trust of Hamas. Hamas is highly organized around gender roles and responsibilities that could be used against them.

Infrastructure

Hamas has invested in a heavy tunnel system. According to Terrorist group: Hamas (n.d), the tunnel network. The tunnels are constructed under the sandy soils of Gaza, and some describe them as cities. According to Watkins & James,2016), the tunnel system built by Hamas in 2016 was double the size that the Vietnamese Liberation Front had built. The tunnels, according to Watkins & James (2016), were invented to counter the Israeli defense force’s heavy fire on Gaza. The tunnels serve as a defense and attack front for Hamas. They have rendered various victories over the Israelis. The tunnels also serve as a front for launching mine field traps and explosives against the IDF. Israel also claims that Hamas has built a tunnel through the Gaza border to Israel. The extent of tunnels into Israel remains an estimate. However, some have been recently destroyed by the Israeli Defence Forces.

As tunnel warfare is growing, the general infrastructure in Gaza has rendered the Strip unliveable. The unliveable status was declared by the world bank. Hamas has lost its attention on the Strips water system and sewerage. Roads are in disarray and impassable. According to the Times of Israel, Gaza faces electric blackouts 12 hours a day which may extend to twenty in some instances (Gaza’s infrastructure on the Verge of collapse, report warns, 2017). The cooking gas and fuel industry are in a disarray, and the country is facing severe fuel and gas shortages.

Analyst Comment. Apparently, Gaza under Hamas is not conventionally structured. Even though infiltration of Hamas by the United States army would require on-land and air tactics, the tunnel system places a paradigm shift in the military approach. To begin with, the tunnel system offers

Information

Hamas maintains a lethal information system propelled by the advancement of its enemies. The group has developed technologies that could use dating applications to get information from Israeli soldiers. The applications are infiltrated using malicious malware controlled by Hamas that relays information back to the group’s operation base. Hamas has also been able to hack Israeli soldier forces and obtain video forms of information without the knowledge of the victims. Hams has invested in recent years in cyber hacking and information collection. In 2019, Israel responded to Hamas cyber hacking y destroying its headquarters.

Analyst Comment. Hamas is a group that is highly organized in its information system. Coupled with their proper knowledge of their terrain, which is hidden, and their high secrecy, the group, may be difficult to deal with. It is thus important to use one-use cells and encrypted radio signals to communicate. Any intelligence carried out should be stored in highly encrypted servers with no officer allowed to carry their personal phones to the operation or strategy rooms. In case covert operations are necessary, handlers should adopt covert means such as codes to communicate with their inside persons.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Hamas is a highly organized and secretive organization. The organization is shown to be highly driven, given its ability to build a network of tunnels. Its seasoned experience with the fighting tactics of Israel is a key point in facing them. To defeat Hamas, the United States will need to analyze what Hamas knows about Israeli tactics, which would be a predictor of what combat tactics Hamas would predict the US will use. Thus a joint covert operation recommendable using its supply chains should precede a full-scale attack.

References

Borghard, E. D., & Schneider, J. (2019). Israel responded to a Hamas cyberattack with an airstrike. That’s not such a big deal. The Washington Post, 9.

Cohen, Y. (2009). Hamas in combat: the military performance of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement. Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Flanigan, S. T. (2012). Terrorists next door? A comparison of Mexican drug cartels and Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. Terrorism and Political Violence, 24(2), 279-294.

Gaza’s infrastructure on the Verge of collapse, report warns. (2017, January 29). Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/gazas-infrastructure-on-the-verge-of-collapse-report-warns/

Gaza’s economy: How Hamas stays in power. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/gazas-economy-how-hamas-stays-power

Hannase, M. (2020). The Dilemma Between Religious Doctrine and Political Pragmatism: Study of Hamas in Palestine. Religió: Jurnal Studi Agama-agama, 10(1), 54-70.

Hroub, K. (2010). Hamas. The Other Press.

Senior IDF Commander says Hamas has 30,000 men, 7,000 rockets, and dozens of drones. (2021, February 11). Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-idf-commander-says-hamas-has-7000-rockets-dozens-of-drones/

Terrorist group: Hamas. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://counterterrorismethics.tudelft.nl/hamas/

Watkins, N. J., & James, A. M. (2016). Digging into Israel: The sophisticated tunneling network of Hamas. Journal of Strategic Security, 9(1), 84-103.