When Mr Yassin co-founded Hamas in 1987, the Islamic group's aim was not just to end Israel's occupationoftheGazastrip and West Bank (which had both been seized in a war 20 years earlier) but also to destroy Israel itself.
The end ofthe 1967 war and the beginning ofthe Israeli occupationofthe West Bank and GazaStrip brought dramatic changes to the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis.