For months, veteran Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya spearheaded the group’s indirect ceasefire negotiations with arch-foe Israel in an effort to halt the war in Gaza.
Yesterday, the Palestinian movement named him as its new chief, favouring him over longtime leader Khaled Meshaal.
“Khalil al-Hayya was elected by an overwhelming majority,” a senior Hamas official told AFP, adding that he is expected to formally assume the role next week.
“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,” another source in Hamas said. A former official from the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the founders of Hamas, al-Hayya is viewed as a moderate, and will replace slain leader Yahya Sinwar.
Along with Meshaal, he survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Doha in September 2025 that left several dead, including one of his sons and his chief of staff. Al-Hayya is known to have good relations with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, with Arab countries such as Qatar, Egypt and Algeria, as well as with Iran, his movement’s main financial and military backer, a Hamas official close to him told AFP.
The official highlighted al-Hayya’s pragmatic and conversative temperament.“He doesn’t get carried away easily, and is respected by all members of the political bureau as well as by military commanders,” the official said. Al-Hayya was raised in a religious and conservative family in Gaza.