Over the next few days, Unsettled is going to bring you the voices of many different people who have been affected by this week's devastating escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza. We’re starting with an episode about Hamas, whose surprise attack across the Gaza border on October 7th "completely ruptured the reality we thought we were operating in," says Tareq Baconi.

Tareq Baconi is the author of Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance, billed as "the first history of the group on its own terms." Shortly after the book was published in 2018, Tareq was a guest on Unsettled; he spoke with producer Max Freedman about the origins of Hamas and its complicated relationship with the state of Israel. Earlier this week, Max called Tareq again, to get his analysis of Hamas's recent moves. Why this kind of attack, and why now?

Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Max Freedman, and Ilana Levinson, with support from Asaf Calderon. Music in this episode from Blue Dot Sessions.

• Tareq Baconi, Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance (2018)
• "Tareq Baconi: Hamas, Explained" (2019, republished 2021)
• Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network