A senior Hamas official informed AFP on Sunday that the group was within the closing part of choosing a brand new chief, with two distinguished figures competing for the place.
Hamas not too long ago accomplished the formation of a brand new Shura Council of greater than 80 members, a consultative physique largely composed of spiritual students, in addition to a brand new 18-member political bureau, the official stated.
Since Tel Aviv’s conflict on Gaza started on October 7, 2023, in response to Hamas’ assault on Israel, Israeli forces have killed a number of Hamas leaders, together with two former chiefs. The nation has additionally killed greater than 70,000 Palestinians.
“The motion has accomplished its inside elections within the three areas and has reached the ultimate stage of choosing the pinnacle of the political bureau,” the official stated, talking on situation of anonymity as he was not approved to talk publicly.
He stated the race for the group’s management was now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya.
A second Hamas supply confirmed the event, whereas a 3rd supply stated the brand new chief would lead the motion solely “for one yr”.
Regardless of a US-brokered ceasefire that entered its second part final month, violence has continued in Gaza, with Israel and Hamas blaming one another for violating the settlement.
Members of the council are elected each 4 years by representatives from Hamas’s three branches: the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Financial institution and the motion’s exterior management.
Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails are additionally eligible to vote.
The council subsequently elects the political bureau, which in flip selects the pinnacle of the motion.
Skilled leaders
Each Meshaal and Hayya have years of expertise throughout the motion.
Hayya, 65, a Gaza native and Hamas’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, has held senior roles since at the very least 2006, in response to the US-based NGO the Counter Extremism Mission (CEP).
Meshaal, who led the political bureau from 2004 to 2017, has by no means lived in Gaza. He was born within the West Financial institution in 1956.
He joined Hamas in Kuwait and later lived in Jordan, Syria and Qatar. The CEP says he oversaw Hamas’s evolution right into a political-military hybrid.
He at the moment heads the motion’s diaspora workplace.
Final month, a Hamas supply informed AFP that Hayya loved backing from the group’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.
After Israel killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, the group selected its then-Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, as his successor.
Israel accused Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 assault. He, too, was killed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Hamas then opted for a five-member leadership committee based in Qatar, postponing the appointment of a single leader until elections, given the risk of the new chief being targeted by Israel.
