Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
22 July 2026 | 13:00 CAT
3-minute read

Who is Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ newly elected political bureau chairman?

Khalil al-Hayya was officially elected chairman of Hamas’ political bureau on July 20, 2026. He succeeds Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli occupation forces in 2024.

Born in Gaza in 1960, al-Hayya was raised in the enclave and later became a founding member of Hamas. Over more than four decades, he has served in senior legislative, organisational and media roles within Hamas. He is also known for serving as Hamas’ chief negotiator in indirect ceasefire and hostage exchange talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

During an interview on Radio Islam International, Palestinian affairs analyst Osama Nazzal said al-Hayya is among the last remaining members of Hamas’ original senior command, following the deaths of many of the movement’s top leaders in recent years.

“He is one of the last people of the first line of leadership of Hamas movement, as he lost almost all of his brothers and all of the people he worked with for a long time.”

Al-Hayya’s election was confirmed after an internal ballot conducted by Hamas’ General Shura Council. An initial vote in May failed to produce the absolute majority required under the movement’s internal rules, prompting a run-off in which al-Hayya won 35 votes, while former political chief Khaled Meshaal received 34 votes.

Nazzal observed al-Hayya’s victory is unsurprising due to his deep personal losses, direction of the movement’s strategic operations for months and his leadership role in the ceasefire negotiations.

Will Hamas’ strategy change?

Analysts say al-Hayya’s election signals Hamas intends to maintain its core positions on rearmament, political sovereignty and resistance to immediate disarmament proposals linked to post-war Gaza.

Nazzal explained that Hamas’ political and military strategy must fundamentally shift to address the unprecedented humanitarian and structural disaster that has reordered Palestinian life.

He said this reflects the scale of destruction wrought by nearly three years of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.

“Israel killed 73 000 people, injured about 200 000 others. We are talking about a real disaster in Gaza because of the war, a large number of amputees, handicapped, homeless people, no infrastructure at all. So the situation does not allow the Palestinians really to continue with the strategy that they had in the past and they must have a new strategy,” Nazzal noted.

Nazzal noted that a new strategy must encompass Palestine in its entirety, including Jerusalem and the West Bank, where Israel has accelerated illegal land seizures for colonial settlement expansion.

He added that any new strategy must also address the occupied West Bank, where Israeli military operations and settler violence have intensified alongside continued settlement expansion.

Just yesterday, Israeli settlers stormed the village of Abu Falah (historically associated with the Jarir area) near Ramallah, killing two Palestinian citizens and destroying local property. This escalation underscores a coordinated pressure campaign making daily life increasingly untenable across all Palestinian territories.

Consequently, the Palestinian situation requires the new leadership to secure a permanent end to Israel’s aggression, to prioritise humanitarian aid, rebuild infrastructure and stabilise the economy, the analyst said.

Concerns for al-Hayya’s safety

Al-Hayya has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts, including a 2007 airstrike on his family home and a September 2025 bombing targeted at a compound in Doha. He has suffered severe personal loss throughout the conflict; an estimated four of his sons, his wife, and numerous extended family members have been killed in Israeli strikes over the years.

In his new role, al-Hayya also faces safety threats. Israel has for decades employed targeted killings against senior Hamas leaders, describing the strategy as a means of disrupting the group’s military and political command structure. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Israeli forces have killed several high-ranking Hamas officials, including former political bureau chief Yahya Sinwar and military commander Mohammed Deif, while repeatedly stating that they intend to dismantle the organisation’s senior ranks.

“I think, yes, Israel is going to target him as it targeted him before and this is not only restricted to al-Hayya as a person but Israel nowadays kills any Palestinian who rejects its policy and who rejects its occupation for the Palestinian territory,” Nazzal said.

Listen to the full interview with Osama Nazzal on Sabaahul Muslim, presented by Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.