The Palestinian militant group Hamas has selected a new leader for its top political tier. In an official announcement issued Monday, Hamas named Khalil al-Hayya, who previously led the group’s political wing in Gaza, as its new political bureau chief. Al-Hayya rose to become the organization’s most senior figure following the deaths of former leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar in Israeli military strikes.
The selection took place through an internal vote overseen by Hamas’s top decision-making body, the General Shura Council. Al-Hayya won a runoff vote against former political leader Khaled Mashal, after no candidate secured the required 50 percent of votes in the initial round. With this election, the five-member interim leadership council — formed to run the organization during wartime following Sinwar’s death — has been dissolved. Al-Hayya will serve as full political chief for the remainder of the current term, which runs through 2027.
Born on November 5, 1960, in Gaza City, al-Hayya grew up in a traditional environment shaped by the realities of occupation. He became involved in political activity in the early 1980s after meeting Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Academically accomplished, al-Hayya earned a degree from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1983, a master’s degree from the University of Jordan in 1986, and a doctorate in Hadith studies from Sudan in 1997. He later served as Dean of Student Affairs at the Islamic University of Gaza.
Al-Hayya joined Hamas as a founding member in 1987 and was arrested multiple times by Israeli forces during the First Intifada. He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, where he led Hamas’s parliamentary bloc. He subsequently served as deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza and head of its Arab-Islamic relations division. After the group’s political office was established in Qatar in 2012, he relocated there to handle foreign diplomatic responsibilities and coordinate alliances.
Role as Negotiator
Al-Hayya has served as a key negotiator throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leading Hamas delegations in ceasefire talks following the 2012 and 2014 Gaza wars. In the war that began after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, he served as Hamas’s chief negotiator in Qatar- and Egypt-mediated ceasefire and hostage-release talks. He has defended the October 7 attack as necessary to bring the Palestinian cause onto the international stage and to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Personal Losses
Throughout his political career, al-Hayya has survived multiple assassination attempts and suffered significant personal losses. In 2007, an Israeli airstrike on his residence killed seven relatives, including two of his brothers. In 2008, his son Hamza, a member of the Qassam Brigades, was killed in a drone strike. During the 2014 war, an Israeli strike killed his eldest son Osama, along with his wife and three children. In September 2025, his son Humam and other bodyguards were killed in a strike in Doha, and in May 2026, another son, Azzam, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza.
International analysts regard al-Hayya as a hardline, uncompromising leader. He has repeatedly stated that Hamas will not back down in its confrontation with Israel, identifying the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as his central objective. Political observers note that the fact Hamas was able to conduct a formal internal vote for leadership even amid intense wartime conditions reflects the group’s rigid internal organizational structure.
With the war now in its third year and more than 73,000 people killed, al-Hayya’s ascension to leadership carries significant weight. How ceasefire negotiations with Israel evolve in the coming period, and how Hamas’s military and political strategy is shaped under his leadership, has now become a major point of discussion in international politics.