Hamas in final stage of picking new chief, says official; Hayya, Meshaal frontrunners
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Hamas in final stage of picking new chief, says official; Hayya, Meshaal frontrunners")
File photo of Hamas fighters in the central Gaza Strip Photograph: (AFP)
After Israel killed Ismail Haniyeh and his successor, Yahya Sinwar, within months, Hamas postponed the appointment of a single leader due to the risk of the new chief also being targeted, and opted for an interim five-member leadership committee based in Qatar.
A senior Hamas official revealed on Sunday that the Palestinian group was in the final stage of selecting a new leader and said two prominent figures are in contention for the position. Hamas recently completed the formation of a new Shoura Council, a consultative body largely composed of religious scholars, as well as a new political bureau, the official told AFP. Members of the council are elected every four years by representatives from Hamas’s three branches: the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and the external leadership.
The council subsequently elects the political bureau, which in turn selects the head of the movement.
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The Palestinian group has completed its internal elections in the three regions and has reached the final stage of selecting the head of the political bureau, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.
Another Hamas source also confirmed the development within the group, which fought a devastating war with Israel following its audacious October 7, 2023, attack.
Khaled Meshaal and Khalil Al-Hayya two main contenders for post
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He added that the race for the group’s leadership is now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil Al-Hayya.
Hayya, 65, is a Gaza native and was the chief negotiator of Hamas in ceasefire talks. He has held senior roles in the group since 2006, according to the US-based NGO the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).
Meshaal, who led the political bureau from 2004 to 2017, has never lived in Gaza and currently heads the movement’s diaspora office. Born in the West Bank in 1956, he joined Hamas in Kuwait and later lived in Jordan, Syria and Qatar. He is credited for Hamas’s evolution into a political-military hybrid, says CEP.
As per reports, Hayya enjoys backing from the group’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassem Brigades.
Hamas opted for interim five-member leadership committee
After Israel killed former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, the group chose its then-Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar as his successor. Israel accused Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 attack.
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Sinwar was also killed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, three months after Haniyeh’s assassination.
Considering the risk of the new chief also being targeted and eliminated by Israel, Hamas had postponed the appointment of a single leader until elections and opted for an interim five-member leadership committee based in Qatar.
