GAZA CITY (Palestinian territory) – Hamas is in the final stage of selecting a new leader, with two senior figures, Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya, competing for the position, a senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday. The movement recently formed a new Shura Council of over 80 members and an 18-member political bureau to fill leadership vacancies following a series of targeted killings by Israeli forces.
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The official, speaking anonymously, said the internal elections in Hamas’s three regions—the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and its external leadership—had concluded, and the political bureau is now set to choose the head of the movement. Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails were also eligible to vote, sources added. One source indicated that the new leader’s term might last only one year.
A source sources told AFP: “Hamas will issue a statement once the leader is chosen, expected during Ramadan.”
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The leadership contest follows the deaths of several senior Hamas figures, including former chiefs Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, who were killed by Israeli strikes. Since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the movement has faced heavy losses in its leadership ranks, prompting the reorganisation.
Meshaal, born in the West Bank in 1956, has headed Hamas’s diaspora office and led the political bureau from 2004 to 2017. Hayya, 65, a Gaza native, is Hamas’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks and has held senior roles since at least 2006. Sources say Hayya has the backing of the movement’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.
Palestinians in Gaza expressed mixed reactions. Some said the choice of leader may not directly impact their daily lives, while others stressed the need for experienced leadership that could stabilise the territory and navigate international pressure for disarmament.
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Hamas faces the challenge of balancing international demands, led by the United States and Israel, to disarm, while maintaining the influence of its armed wing. The appointment of a new leader comes amid ongoing violence in Gaza despite a US-brokered ceasefire, highlighting the fragile situation in the territory.