Compare two parties

Origins. Fatah was founded in 1959 by Yasser Arafat and a small group of Palestinian exiles in Kuwait, and dominated the PLO from 1969. Its founding doctrine was secular-nationalist liberation through armed struggle (the 1964 Fatah Constitution calls armed struggle "a strategy and not a tactic"). Hamas was founded in 1987 during the First Intifada by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza; its 1988 charter framed Palestinian liberation as a religious-Islamic duty.

Where they diverge. The deepest cleavage is the religious frame. Hamas is an Islamist movement; Fatah is secular-nationalist. On recognition of Israel: the PLO under Fatah formally recognised Israel in 1993 (the Letters of Mutual Recognition); Hamas has rejected recognition even in its 2017 Document of General Principles, which only accepts a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders "without recognising the legitimacy of the Zionist entity." On governance, Fatah administers the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under the Oslo framework; Hamas has governed Gaza since 2007 outside that framework, having won the 2006 legislative elections and then defeated Fatah militarily in Gaza.

Where they overlap. Both claim historical Palestine as their patrimony, both reject Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territory, both face accusations of authoritarian governance in their areas of control, and both have used armed force against Israeli civilians.

Why it matters today. The Hamas-Fatah split has been the central obstacle to Palestinian unity since 2007 and remains the structural backdrop of any post-war Gaza arrangement. The Mahmoud Abbas / PA leadership is in its 20th year of a four-year term.