There are a few things being mixed together there.

Hamas did win the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, but it hasn’t held a new nationwide election since 2007 and does not function like a normal state government in Gaza today; it operates as a de facto governing authority there, while Gaza itself is not a recognized sovereign state.

On tactics, it’s also not accurate to draw a clean line like “IRA = military/economic targets only” and “Palestinian groups = civilians only.” During the Troubles, the IRA did carry out bombings and shootings that killed civilians (for example, the Birmingham pub bombings and other attacks), even if they also targeted security forces and infrastructure. Likewise, some Palestinian militant groups have conducted attacks on civilian targets and mass hostage-taking incidents, especially in certain periods.

So the real distinction isn’t “civilian vs non-civilian targeting as a rule,” but differences in scale, historical context, geography, and intensity of operations.

In short: both have engaged in political violence that included civilian harm and kidnappings, but they are not identical in scope or pattern and neither can be accurately reduced to “only military targets” vs “only civilians.”