Also, Hamas, much like Al-Quaeda and Taliban were to the US, are a product of Israel's own creation. They were created in order to counter the influence of communist and socialist organizations within Palestinian society - namely the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Palestinian Peoples' Party (PPP).
Furthermore, this was an attempt at a horrible divide-and-rule tactic to tear apart secular and religious Palestinians.
(Source: Islamic Fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza by Ziyad Abu Amr; How Israel Helped Spawn Hamas by Andrew Higgins.)
