EU adds 2 Hamas commanders to its terrorist list middleeastmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from middleeastmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
On July 23, 1999, U.S. Air Force Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle flight, with the launch of Columbia on a four-day mission.
This Day in History — July 23 jamaicaobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jamaicaobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BBC News
Hamas is the largest of several Palestinian militant Islamist groups.
Its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, originating as it did in 1987 after the beginning of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising, against Israel s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It originally had a dual purpose of carrying out an armed struggle against Israel - led by its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades - and delivering social welfare programmes.
But since 2005, it has also engaged in the Palestinian political process, becoming the first Islamist group in the Arab world to win election through the ballot box (before reinforcing its power in Gaza by ousting its Fatah rivals).