Khalil al-Hayya named Hamas' new overall leader

CAIRO: Senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya was named the overall leader of the Palestinian group on Monday, elevating a veteran official who has been central to ceasefire negotiations during the Gaza war and is regarded as one of Hamas' most influential leaders outside the enclave.

Hayya, 64, has been based in Doha alongside other Hamas leaders. He survived an Israeli attack in Qatar on September 9 last year, when he and other Hamas leaders had been set to discuss an earlier ceasefire initiative. He has become more prominent as other senior Hamas officials were killed in Israeli strikes, including Ismail Haniyeh during a visit to Iran and Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.

Role in truce efforts

Hayya was deeply involved in indirect contacts with Israel throughout the Gaza war, which began after Hamas carried out its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, triggering a large-scale Israeli military offensive in Gaza. He took part in the negotiations that led to a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025, which halted major fighting, although Israel has continued attacks on Hamas and other groups it says pose an imminent threat.

Hayya has been widely seen as Hamas' most influential figure abroad since Haniyeh was killed in Iran in July 2024. He is also part of a five-member leadership council in Qatar that has led the movement since Sinwar was killed last year. He is a long-time member of Hamas and had been involved in efforts to secure several truces with Israel, including a key role in ending the 2014 conflict and in attempts to stop the current war.

Background and personal losses

Originally from the Gaza Strip, Hayya has been part of Hamas since the group was founded in 1987. He had joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1980s along with Haniyeh and Sinwar. While in Gaza, he was detained several times by Israel.

He has suffered repeated losses in his family during Israeli attacks. In 2007, an Israeli airstrike struck his family home in Gaza City's Shejaia area, killing several relatives. In 2008, his son Hamza was killed in an Israeli airstrike. During the 2014 war, the home of his eldest son Osama was bombed, killing Osama, his wife and three of their children. Hayya has also lost a son in the current Gaza conflict.

Regional ties and public remarks

Hayya left Gaza several years ago and has since acted as a Hamas point person for relations with Arab and Islamic countries while based in Qatar. He accompanied Haniyeh to Tehran during the July visit in which Haniyeh was killed.

Hayya is seen as having strong ties with Iran. In 2022, he led a Hamas delegation to Damascus to restore relations with former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad after a rupture that had lasted a decade following Hamas' support for the uprising against Assad. That break had strained a regional alliance backed by Iran against Israel and the United States.

Hayya has also commented publicly on the October 7 attack. In remarks published by the Palestinian Information Center, he said the operation had been intended as a limited mission to capture prisoners for exchange.