Abstract
Using the levels of analysis developed by Shai Feldman, Abdel Monem Said Aly, and Khalil Shikaki provides a better understanding of the factors that have enabled Hamas to remain in power. Those levels are the regional, domestic, and individual factors. Regionally, the state actors outside of Israel and Gaza have propped up Hamas, such as Qatar, Iran, and Egypt. Domestic factors, in this case, will indicate how both Israeli and Palestinian politics played a role in Hamas’s survival. Finally, how individual leaders from both Israel and within Hamas have created Hamas’s success story. The most significant factor that explains Hamas's ability to survive is the role of the individual.