Introduction

The introduction sets out the core goals of this study. First, to critically examine the scope, limits, and causation of the shifts in Hamas’s political behaviour between 2005 and 2017. In doing so, this study expounds how Hamas has developed and implemented a dual resistance strategy (DRS), comprising of political and armed resistance, to achieve, maintain, and defend its status as a viable actor in Palestinian politics. Second, to explore and account for, the effects that Hamas’s national liberation agenda have on its move into politics, and the causal nexus behind any subsequent shifts in its political behaviour. The chapter provides a conceptualisation of the DRS, explaining the tenets of Hamas’s political and armed resistance personas.