summary of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance by Tareq Baconi:

Tareq Baconi’s Hamas Contained offers a nuanced and deeply researched account of the Palestinian movement Hamas, tracing its evolution from an armed Islamist resistance group during the First Intifada into a governing authority in Gaza whose radical ambitions have been steadily constrained. Baconi argues that while Hamas emerged as a militant challenge to Israel’s occupation and to the dominance of the secular PLO, its trajectory over the decades has been shaped by pressures that forced it into a paradoxical position: simultaneously embodying resistance and yet being “contained” by Israel, regional powers, and the international community. The book shows how Hamas gradually shifted from a revolutionary project aimed at the liberation of all of Palestine to a political actor managing the realities of governing Gaza under siege, negotiating truces with Israel, and seeking limited international legitimacy. Baconi carefully examines Israel’s strategy of containment, which—rather than seeking to destroy Hamas outright—has relied on blockades, military operations, and controlled escalations to keep the group weakened and isolated, while also benefiting from Palestinian fragmentation between Hamas and Fatah. He situates Hamas within the broader regional and global context, analyzing the impact of Arab states, Iran, and Western governments in reinforcing its marginalization while simultaneously making it indispensable in Gaza. The book also highlights the dilemmas within Hamas itself, torn between its role as a resistance movement and as a governing authority forced into pragmatic compromises that often frustrate its grassroots supporters. Ultimately, Baconi portrays Hamas not as an aberration but as a reflection of the structural deadlock of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where a movement once rooted in uncompromising resistance has been drawn into a cycle of pacification, survival, and limited power under occupation. Hamas Contained is thus both a political history and a critical analysis of how Israel’s containment strategies and international complicity have entrenched Palestinian division while preventing a genuine path toward liberation or peace.