The Intifadas, Hamas, and the Gaza Blockade

The First Intifada erupted in December 1987 in the Gaza Strip and quickly spread to the West Bank, involving mass protests, general strikes, civil disobedience, and clashes that often featured stone-throwing against Israeli forces. It was during this uprising that the Islamist movement Hamas emerged, founded in 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, combining an Islamist ideology with a program of armed resistance against the occupation and an extensive network of social, educational, and health services. The Israeli military response included significant repressive measures that produced numerous Palestinian civilian casualties, and the uprising, estimated to have caused more than a thousand Palestinian deaths, continued until the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.