Well it depends on if they were part of the civil, or militant wing of Hamas. If they were a part of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, then they could very well have been "Hamas" militants. See, this understanding of differences works both ways. If you have identified who these "militants" were, and whether or not they belonged to the political, or militant arm (which has often times run contrary to the political arm, not unlike the Sinn Fein and the IRA), please feel free to say so. If anything, I see a bunch of terrorists of varying degrees at it against each other. Hamas appears to be going the way of Hizbullah, ie going closer to a proper political power willing to work with the existence of Israel, but it still has time to go. It did however, get elected, and legally, is the leadership of the Palestinian territories.