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Hamas picks al-Hayya
Hamas announced Monday that it had elected Khalil al-Hayya, 64, as head of its political bureau, succeeding Yahya al-Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October 2024.
i24NEWS said al-Hayya is the group’s lead negotiator in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel and that the election caps months of secretive deliberation following the deaths of a string of senior Hamas figures in Israeli strikes.
The Times of Israel reported that al-Hayya defeated former Hamas chief and veteran leader Khaled Mashaal in the leadership contest and that a senior Hamas official told AFP that he was elected by an overwhelming majority, adding that he is expected to formally assume the role next week.
The BBC said the Palestinian armed group Hamas named Khalil al-Hayya as its new overall leader to replace Yahya Sinwar, and described him as a close associate of Sinwar who is expected to continue the political line going back to the late Ismail Haniyeh.
Doha strike and vote
The Jerusalem Post said that in September 2025 Khalil al-Hayya was in Doha, Qatar, when an Israeli airstrike was carried out and that UAE daily The National reported that “Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya [was] targeted with others in an Israeli operation in Doha on Tuesday.”
The BBC reported that al-Hayya’s election followed two rounds of voting and that under Hamas internal rules a candidate must secure at least 36 votes from the 69-member electoral college to be elected straight up.
NDTV said Hamas’s senior Hamas official told AFP that al-Hayya “was elected by an overwhelming majority” in a run-off against former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, and that the political bureau would meet in Istanbul within days to set up committees and begin restructuring the group’s leadership bodies.
The Times of Israel added that the election was not transparent and that “The election process was conducted through a highly complex and secretive mechanism because of the difficult security situation and the occupation’s assassination of several political and military leaders,” a source in Hamas said.
Ceasefire stakes ahead
Multiple outlets tied al-Hayya’s new role to Gaza ceasefire negotiations, with i24NEWS saying he was the lead negotiator in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel and with NDTV saying he was at the centre of indirect negotiations with Israel that led to a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025.
“Palestinian group Hamas has announced the election of Khalil al-Hayya as the new head of its political bureau”
The Times of Israel said Hamas is at a crossroads with Gaza in ruins and amid negotiations with mediators over the implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which it said has all but completely stalled due to the group’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s desire to hold off on major decisions in, or withdrawals from, the Strip until after the Israeli election in October.
The BBC reported that Hamas’s internal contest came as the group was “seriously weakened by the Gaza war” and that Israel, UK, US and many other countries label Hamas as a terrorist organisation, while it also cited the territory Hamas-run health ministry saying more than 73,280 people were killed.
In parallel, The Times of Israel said Hamas demanded the establishment of a Palestinian administration there before it will consider handing over any part of its arsenal, and it reported that last month Hamas ceded its governmental control of Gaza to the technocratic National Committee for the Administration of Gaza headed by Palestinian technocrat Ali Shaath.
