Religious Ideology Fueled Hamas's October 7 Attack, Study Finds

A new study by the Amit Institute for Research on Terror and Intelligence suggests that religious ideology played a significant role in Hamas's decision to launch the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The research indicates that since its founding in 1987, Islam has been central to Hamas's identity, as reflected in its charter which stated that "jihad is its path and death for Allah is its highest aspiration." The charter also included virulent antisemitic statements.

The study notes that Hamas's ideology is rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the rulings of preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi and the teachings of Abdullah Azzam, founder of the global jihad movement. With Hamas having full control of Gaza since 2007, it was able to indoctrinate new generations with extremist Islamic ideology through formal and informal education, including summer camps that combined weapons training with religious studies, and military wing training.

While Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar and the commander of the military wing, based their decision for the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation on "rational" military and political considerations, such as thwarting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and securing the release of Palestinian prisoners, the religious dimension was decisive. Evidence for this includes captured documents and statements from Hamas officials that framed the campaign as a religious war for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, employing Quranic verses and Hadith traditions. The term "the second promise" from the Quran, signifying a divine guarantee for the end of Jewish presence in Israel, was also used.

A religious training kit found with Nahba operatives, containing a Quran, books on jihad, martyrdom, and rulings on warfare, further demonstrates the importance of religious indoctrination. The study asserts that the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 were an implementation of its antisemitic views and religious rulings, which did not differentiate between civilians and combatants, despite Islamic sources prohibiting harm to women, children, and the elderly.

The Amit Institute estimates that religious considerations were a major factor in the Hamas leadership's decision, driven by a belief in divine assurance of victory and the merit of martyrdom. This marked a shift in Hamas's focus from the Muslim Brotherhood model to a movement inspired by the jihadist currents associated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The study concludes that Hamas is unlikely to abandon its extremist religious and antisemitic ideology, which has been ingrained over two decades of rule and was brutally implemented on October 7.