How powerful is Hamas?

On October 7th Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel and slaughtered more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians. What is Hamas and how powerful is it? 00:00 - What is Hamas? 00:55 - Hamas’s control of Gaza 01:18 - Growth of Hamas military capacity 01:32 - The latest attack on Israel Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: Hamas’s attack was the bloodiest in Israel’s history: A short history of Gaza: As war looms Israel calls for people to evacuate northern Gaza: Israel faces the danger of fighting on a second front: Will Israel’s agony and retribution end in chaos or stability?: Netanyahu wages war and fights for his own survival: Hamas’s attack was an Israeli intelligence failure on multiple fronts: Brutal urban w