Hamas appoints Khalil al-Hayya as new political chief

CAIRO: Hamas said on Monday it had chosen Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s lead negotiator in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel, as the new head of its political bureau following the killing of Yahya al-Sinwar.

In a statement, Hamas said Hayya would succeed Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza a year after the October 7, 2023 attacks that Israel had accused him of helping orchestrate. Since Sinwar’s death, the group had been run by a five-member leadership council headed by longtime senior official Mohammed Darwish.

A senior Hamas official said Hayya defeated former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in the leadership contest and had been elected by an overwhelming majority. The official said he was expected to formally take over the post next week and that the political bureau would meet in Istanbul within days to set up committees and start restructuring the movement’s leadership bodies.

The same official said the current five-member leadership council would be dissolved and its members would submit their resignations to Hamas’s Shura Council. Another Hamas source said the election was carried out through a highly complex and secretive process because of the difficult security situation and the assassination of several political and military leaders by Israel.

Representatives of Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, also announced their full support for Hayya. Born in 1960 and originally from the Gaza Strip, Hayya is regarded as a veteran member of Hamas and has been part of the movement since its establishment in 1987. He had joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1980s, from which Hamas later emerged.

Hayya is seen as having strong ties with Iran and has played a prominent role in Hamas efforts to negotiate truces with Israel. He was involved in ending the 2014 conflict and has also been closely engaged in attempts to reach an end to the current war in Gaza.

He was detained several times by Israel while in Gaza. In 2007, an Israeli air strike struck his family home in Gaza City’s Sejaiyeh neighbourhood, killing several relatives. During the 2014 war, the home of his eldest son Osama was bombed, killing Osama, his wife and three of their children. Hayya was not present during those attacks.

Hayya survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Doha last year, although one of his sons was killed in that strike. He left Gaza several years ago and has since been based in Qatar, where he has served as Hamas’s main point person for ties with Arab and Islamic countries.