Hamas governs Gaza from 2006 election to 2026 exit

Hamas secured a decisive victory in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, winning 74 of the 132 seats and forming a short‑lived coalition government with the Islamic Jihad and the left‑wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The win triggered a swift diplomatic backlash: the United States, the European Union and Israel imposed economic sanctions and suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority, while the United Nations withheld direct funding pending reforms. A violent split with the rival Fatah movement erupted in June 2007, culminating in Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip after a week of street battles, an event that entrenched the territory’s political bifurcation and led to a prolonged Israeli‑Egyptian blockade. Over the next decade, Gaza experienced several major conflicts—including the 2008‑09, 2012 and 2014 wars—each followed by temporary ceasefires brokered by Egypt and Qatar, intermittent reconciliation talks with Fatah, and a series of United Nations resolutions condemning both Israeli attacks and Hamas’ rocket fire. In 2017, a tentative unity agreement was signed but never fully implemented, while 2020‑2021 saw renewed hostilities and a brief humanitarian pause after the COVID‑19 pandemic strained the enclave’s already fragile health system. By 2023, regional actors pressed for a political transition, and in early 2024 the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging new elections and the lifting of the blockade contingent on Hamas renouncing violence. Internal pressure grew as economic hardship and civil‑society protests intensified, prompting Hamas to announce a phased withdrawal from direct governance in late 2025.

In May 2026, Hamas formally transferred administrative authority of Gaza to a newly elected, mixed‑political council overseen by an international monitoring body, marking the end of its 20‑year rule over the enclave. The handover was accompanied by the cessation of rocket launches toward Israel, the reopening of several border crossings for humanitarian aid, and the resumption of limited reconstruction projects funded by the World Bank. Observers note that the transition, while hailed as a step toward stability, leaves unresolved issues such as the status of detained militants, the future of the blockade, and the broader Israeli‑Palestinian peace process. The exit of Hamas from Gaza’s governing structures therefore represents a pivotal moment that could reshape regional dynamics, contingent on the durability of the new administration and the willingness of external parties to support a sustained political settlement.