Where does Hamas stand in the Palestinian power structure?
Hamas is essentially in opposition to the Palestinian Authority, although the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was careful not to antagonize Hamas fearing the wrath of the organization’s tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers. In the past, the Palestinian Authority has launched major offensives against the group, notably the arrests of nearly 1,000 Hamas supporters and the taking over of mosques in Gaza in 1996. But the Palestinian Authority has had to be careful not to drive Hamas underground and has made some attempts to co-opt the organization into mainstream Palestinian politics.
