Reply #78: Funny, the word hudna was in his vocabulary this past January -

[54anickel]

On January 26, 2004, senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi offered a 10-year hudna in return for complete withdrawal from all territories captured in the Six Day War, and the establishment of a state.". There had earlier been some talks within Hamas about doing this but this time, according to him, "the movement has taken a decision on this". Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said recently the group could accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Rantissi stated that Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation." Rantissi said the truce could last 10 years, though "not more than 10 years." <2>

On March 22, 2004, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was assassinated in an Israeli missile strike. Following Yassin's death, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi replaced him as the leader of Hamas. On March 28, he stated in a speech given at the Islamic University of Gaza City that "America declared war against God. Sharon declared war against God, and God declared war against America, Bush and Sharon."

On April 2, 2004, according to the Boston Globe, a United States federal judge in Providence, Rhode Island, finds Hamas guilty in a civil lawsuit resulting from the 1996 murder of Yaron Ungar and Efrat Ungar in Israel. Hamas is ordered to pay the family of Yaron and Efrat Ungar $116 million. The court has not yet ruled regarding the liability of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.

On April 17, 2004, the successor to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as the leader of Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, was also killed in an airstrike by the Israel Defense Forces, five hours after a fatal suicide bombing by Hamas. With the death of Rantissi, the top three Hamas leaders in Gaza have been killed since August 2003. As a result, Khaled Mashaal, overall leader of Hamas, who is based in Syria, said Hamas should not disclose the name of its next leader in Gaza.<3>

On April 18, 2004, Hamas secretly selected a new leader in the Gaza Strip fearing that he will be killed if his identity is known. (NYT)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas

Here's an interesting explanation of Hamas from 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/978626.stm