Hamas Official: New Chief to Be Announced Soon

A senior Hamas source told AFP that the organization was in the last stages of choosing a new head, with two well-known individuals vying for the role on Sunday.

According to the official, Hamas recently finished forming a new 18-member political bureau and a new Shura Council with about 80 members, which is a consultative group primarily made up of religious experts.

Israeli forces have killed a number of Hamas commanders, including two former chiefs, since Tel Aviv launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, in retaliation for Hamas’ attack on Israel. Additionally, the nation has murdered almost 70,000 Palestinians.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because he lacked the authority to speak in public, the official stated, “The movement has finished its internal elections in the three regions and has reached the final stage of selecting the head of the political bureau.”

He said that Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya were now in the running for the group’s leadership.

A third Hamas source stated that the new leader will only be in charge of the movement “for one year,” while a second verified the news.

Violence has persisted in Gaza despite a truce mediated by the United States that began its second phase last month. Israel and Hamas have blamed one another for breaking the ceasefire.

Representatives from Hamas’s three branches—the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and the movement’s external leadership—elect council members every four years.

Voting is also open to Hamas inmates in Israeli prisons.

The political bureau, which chooses the movement’s leader, is then chosen by the council.

Hayya and Meshaal both have years of expertise in the movement.

According to the US-based NGO the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), Hayya, 65, is a native of Gaza and has been in prominent positions since at least 2006. He is the main negotiator for Hamas in ceasefire negotiations.

Having never resided in Gaza, Meshaal oversaw the political bureau from 2004 until 2017. In 1956, he was born in the West Bank.

He resided in Jordan, Syria, and Qatar after joining Hamas in Kuwait. The CEP says he oversaw Hamas’s evolution into a political-military hybrid.

He is currently in charge of the diaspora office for the movement.

Hamas source told AFP last month that Hayya has the support of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s armed branch.

Hamas selected Yahya Sinwar, its leader in Gaza at the time, to succeed previous Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh after Israel killed him in Tehran in July 2024.

Sinwar was charged by Israel with planning the October 7 attack. In the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, Israeli soldiers also killed him.

Given the possibility of Israel targeting the new chief, Hamas decided to delay the appointment of a single leader until elections and instead choose a five-member leadership council headquartered in Qatar.