The relevance of this topic is determined by the significance of the struggle of the Palestinian people for the foundation of their own state. Despite the huge number of publications on this topic, it cannot be considered exhausted due to the fact that new actors are emerging in this process, which respond in their own way to the internal and external challenges that arise around the problem of Palestinian state-building. The article is devoted to identifying the role and significance of the Hamas movement in the foundation of a Palestinian state. The study focuses on the ideology of this movement, the directions and mechanisms of its practical activities, the lack of unity among the political elite of Palestine, which negatively affects the process of strengthening Palestinian sovereignty and leaves little chance for achieving the goal of foundation of a Palestinian state. Having analyzed the ideological tenets of Hamas and its methods of political struggle, the authors come to conclusion that until the label of a terrorist organization is not removed from this organization, it would be impossible to neutralize the contradictions among the Palestinian elite in order to consolidate and make progress in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict without the involvement of the movement in the negotiation process. Methodologically, this article is based on the theoretical approaches of both Russian and foreign researchers. The article is based on general philosophical and socio-humanitarian methods. The paper uses empirical data obtained from open sources.