Hamas | featured news

Gaza's Islamic Hamas government on Thursday banned men from working in women's hair salons, the latest step in its campaign to impose strict Islamic customs on Gaza's 1.5 million people....

Israel has rejected a demand for the release of two Hamas commanders as part of any exchange for a captured Israeli soldier, a source close to negotiations said Wednesday, signaling talks had hit a snag.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faced growing outrage at home Sunday over his decision to withdraw support for a U.N. report that alleged Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in last winter's Gaza war.

Four different human rights groups have issued reports on rights violations in the Gaza Strip, with all major players - Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian militant group Hamas - accused of wrongdoing.

Salam Fayyad’s parting could help usher in power sharing between the president and Hamas.

Israel rules out a truce in Gaza unless an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants is freed, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says.

Hamas officials said Friday that an announcement of an 18-month cease-fire with Israel was days away. An Israeli official said nothing had been agreed yet.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees suspends relief imports into Gaza accusing the Hamas government of stealing food aid.

As Israel prepared to launch its assault into Gaza in late December, it braced for substantial casualties among its own troops. Commanders warned their men of Hamas' suicide commandos, missiles that could smash tanks and knock helicopters out of the sky, and long-range rockets that could reach deeper into Israel.

Palestinian militants fired mortar shells from southern Gaza at Israel and Israel carried out an air strike against what the military said were members of the launching squad.