Khalil al-Hayya takes over as Hamas political bureau chief

Veteran negotiator elected to lead Hamas after closely fought leadership vote.

Gaza Strip: Khalil al-Hayya was elected head of Hamas’ political bureau on Monday, July 20, after winning a run-off vote against former political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal, becoming the Palestinian group’s top political leader. According to reports, al-Hayya secured 35 votes to Meshaal’s 34 in the movement’s General Shura Council.

The veteran Hamas official succeeds Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October 2024. His election comes after nearly two years in which he emerged as one of the group’s leading political figures and chief negotiators during indirect ceasefire talks.

Born in Gaza City on November 5, 1960, al-Hayya became active in the Muslim Brotherhood during the early 1980s before joining Hamas when the movement was founded in 1987. Over the following decades, he rose through the organisation’s ranks, serving in several senior political positions.

Al-Hayya studied Islamic sciences, earning a bachelor’s 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 sciences from Sudan in 1997. He later served as dean of student affairs at the Islamic University of Gaza and became a member of the Palestinian Scholars Association.

Senior leadership role

Al-Hayya has held a number of key positions within Hamas, including membership of its political bureau and responsibility for the group’s relations with Arab and Islamic countries. In 2006, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council and later headed Hamas’ parliamentary bloc.

He has represented Hamas in regional diplomacy for years and played a prominent role in indirect negotiations with Israel during successive rounds of conflict in Gaza. Following the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, al-Hayya joined a five-member leadership council that managed the movement’s affairs until a permanent political bureau chief was elected.

In 2022, he led a Hamas delegation to Damascus to restore relations with the Syrian government after ties had been suspended for more than a decade.

Personal losses

Al-Hayya has also suffered repeated personal losses during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He has been detained by Israeli authorities on several occasions and survived an Israeli airstrike on his family home in Gaza City in 2007. According to Hamas, the attack killed several members of his extended family.

His son Hamza was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2008. During the 2014 Gaza war, another son, Osama, along with Osama’s wife and three children, was killed in an Israeli strike on their home.

According to Hamas, al-Hayya also lost another son during the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Based in Qatar in recent years, al-Hayya has remained a key member of Hamas’ political leadership and has represented the movement in negotiations and diplomatic engagements across the region.