What is the real nature of Hamas? The radical Islamist movement shocked the world when it won a landslide election victory in January 2006 in the Palestinian occupied territories. Sine their astonishing victory, this has become the most hotly contested question in the Middle East. How do they really operate? How "Islamic" are they? What personalities lie beneath the black and green uniforms? One of the few journalists not to be surprised by this outcome was Zaki Chehab who has developed an international reputation as a fearless reporter and was one of the first to interview members the Iraqi resistance in May 2003. Fluent in Arabic, he is a Palestinian refugee who grew up in UN refugee camps and has unique access to and understanding of Hamas. Chehab draws on his unique insider sources to tell the story of the radical movement as it has never been told before. He shows how Hamas developed with the implicit encouragement of the Israelis (they bought their first weapons cache from the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency), who wanted to weaken Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. He uncovers the extent of the Israeli intelligence services' penetration of the organization, even at the highest levels. Like Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon, Chehab shows how Hamas built a formidable social base in Palestine through its welfare programs. He also explains why, in the face of the endless complexities, disappointments and delays brought about by the signing of the Oslo Peace Accord, Hamas's strategy of armed struggle and terrorism offers the Palestinian people a seductive, simple and deadly alternative. Interviewing key figures, he offers completely new insights into Hamas. He reveals for the first time how they prepare their "martyrs" for suicide bombing attacks. He investigates their relationship with other groups, such as Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. The picture that emerges is of a political leadership driven above all else by a desire for power.

Choreographed victory -- Hamas is born -- Ez Ed Din Al Qassam Brigades: the military wing of Hamas -- The informers -- The martyrs -- The politics of the Sheikh -- International relations -- Fiction precedes fact: the Al Qaeda connection -- The future of Hamas.