![]() When was Hamas formed and what is its aim? Hamas has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 after a brief war against Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The group politically controls the Gaza Strip, a territory of about 365sq km (141sq miles) that is home to more than two million people but is blockaded by Israel. Hamas stands for the Islamic Resistance Movement and in Arabic means “zeal”. So what is Hamas, the group at the centre of it all? Here is what to know: What is the group Hamas? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a brutal military offensive in Gaza, killing more than 4,600 people as he promised to finish Hamas. The latest conflict has thrown a spotlight on Israel’s 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip and its policy of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.Keep reading list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Israel-Hamas war updates: Death toll rises as Israeli jets pound Gaza list 2 of 3 Photos: Israeli strikes flatten buildings, mosques in Gaza list 3 of 3 Israel-Hamas conflict: Where it stands on day 2 after surprise attack end of list This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. KELLY: Israeli officials say the Iron Dome has been 90- to 97% effective in recent years and that it has helped save lives against Hamas rockets that have been fired since Saturday's offensive started.Ĭopyright © 2023 NPR. ![]() has poured billions of dollars into its development. Each missile the system launches costs around $40,000, and the U.S. KARAKO: When it is told to fire by this somewhat automated system, the first thing that you would see is a Tamir missile coming at it with a good bit of flame and noise and then, you know, traveling off toward the trajectory of the threat, and then maneuvering and positioning itself to come at the threat from just the right angle and then detonate to destroy it.ĬHANG: Now, the system is expensive. KELLY: Karako says if the system calculates that the rocket is going to land in a populated area, it activates the last piece of the system, the launcher. ![]() You also know where it's going to end up. So if you see something traveling on a particular arc, you kind of know where it's going to be going on the rest of its trajectory. KARAKO: For rockets and artillery, for ballistic missiles it's fairly predictable. KELLY: Next, that information is sent to a computer that calculates where that rocket is going. When a rocket is launched into Israel, the system detects it and collects data on its flight path. ![]() Now, there are three parts that make the Iron Dome work.ĬHANG: First, there's the radar. He directs the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the Iron Dome in particular is kind of the poster child. TOM KARAKO: Iron Dome is just one piece of a multi-layered set of systems that the Israelis have. Some of the ways in which Hamas initially attacked Israel on Saturday - that is, taking down communications towers with improvised explosives, paragliding over the border and gunning down civilians - subverted one of Israel's strongest defenses, its Iron Dome.įirst deployed in 2011, the Iron Dome is a network of radar detectors and missile launchers that work together to intercept incoming rockets.
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