The Road to October 7: Hamas’ Long Game, Clarified

Oct-Nov 2023

Also published in CTC Sentinel
A masked Hamas fighter brandishes a rifle in Gaza - source: Reuters
About the Authors
Devorah Margolin
Devorah Margolin

Devorah Margolin is the Blumenstein-Rosenbloom Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Matthew Levitt
Matthew Levitt

Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow and director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute.

Articles & Testimony

An in-depth look at the group’s post-2007 activities confirms that it was steadily preparing the ground (and the population) for war while lulling foreign officials into awaiting a moderation that would never come.

When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip by force of arms in 2007, it faced an ideological crisis. It could focus on governing Gaza and addressing the needs of the Palestinian people, or it could use the Strip as a springboard from which to attack Israel. Even then, Hamas understood these two goals were mutually exclusive. And while some anticipated Hamas would moderate, or at least be co-opted by the demands of governing, this did not happen. Instead, the group invested in efforts to radicalize society and build the militant infrastructure necessary to someday launch the kind of attack that in its view could contribute to the destruction of Israel. This article explores the road from Hamas’ 2007 takeover of Gaza to the October 2023 massacre...

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