"The worst day in Israel's history." That's how an army spokesman described Saturday, October 7, after the attack launched by Hamas. The death toll continues to rise: Over 1,200 dead on the Israeli as of October 13. The offensive was accompanied by hostage-taking and the murder of civilians, the very definition of terrorism. Fear's triumph is definitive. In its early days, Hamas had not yet specialized in this type of action.
The first time the Islamic Resistance Movement (Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiya) appeared in Le Monde, on June 21, 1988, was as the initiator of a general trade strike paralyzing the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. On that day, the daily newspaper carried a dispatch from Agence France-Presse (AFP), which referred to this "Palestinian organization inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood movement" without mentioning the circumstances of its birth in December 1987, in the wake of the first Intifada.
A few weeks later, Jerusalem correspondent Alain Frachon looked at the deployment of this "fundamentalist group." It became a competitor for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and its leader, Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestinian national movement.
"Traditionally, the Islamist current is strong in Gaza (sometimes even among the militants of Yasser Arafat's Fat[a]h) whereas in the West Bank, it's rather the classical (secular) tendency of the PLO that dominates (itself divided between 'hardliners' and 'moderates')," said the journalist, on August 25, 1988. Frachon continued: "Now, for the first time since the beginning" of the Intifada, the Islamist movement acted autonomously by launching – alone – a call for a general strike in the West Bank. It was a "challenge" to Arafat's authority.
Fratricidal confrontation
The Islamist organization disseminated its nascent doctrine. "There is only one solution, the 'jihad' (holy war) for a single objective, a 'Muslim state over all Palestine,'" its leaders wrote, quoted by the reporter on September 12, 1988. Clearly, without the state of Israel on the map. Hamas called for "killing the Jews" at a time when the PLO was preparing to recognize Israel. This division in the Palestinian camp was encouraged by Israeli services, discreet supporters of this new player, said Arafat's supporters.
The fratricidal confrontation erupted in the summer of 1992, despite the PLO's outstretched hands. "Between the secular militants of Yasser Arafat's Fat[a]h and the Islamist 'bearded men' of Hamas, the knives were drawn," said Jerusalem correspondent Patrice Claude on July 10, 1992. "For the first time, pistols, knives, machetes, clubs and slingshots were used in clashes between Palestinians."
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