Two Hamas Figures Compete in New Leader Election

JAKARTA - Two leading figures in Hamas are vying to become the new leader in the final phase of the election, a senior official of the group told AFP Sunday.

Hamas recently completed the formation of a new Shura Council, a consultative body largely made up of clerics, as well as a new political bureau, the official said.

"The movement has completed its internal elections in three regions and has reached the final stage of the election of the head of the political bureau," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, launching Al Arabiya and AFP (23/2).

He added that the competition for leadership of the group is now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya.

Since the war in Gaza began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have killed several leaders of the movement, including two former heads.

Meanwhile, a second Hamas source confirmed the development.

Council members are elected every four years by representatives from Hamas' three branches: the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and the movement's external leadership.

Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails are also entitled to vote.

The council then elects a political bureau, which in turn chooses the movement's head.

A third Hamas source said the new leader would only serve during a "transitional year."

Thousands of Hamas members cast ballots to elect the council and political bureau, the source added, without explaining how the voting was conducted.

"The main objective of this process is to renew internal legitimacy and fill the leadership vacuum," the source added.

The new leader needs to balance between international calls, led by the United States and Israel, for the group to disarm, and its armed wing's rejection of such demands, which it says are aimed at weakening it.

However, Hamas said it would hand over its weapons to the Palestinian authorities in Gaza under certain conditions.

Both Meshaal and al-Hayya have years of experience in the movement.

Al-Hayya (65), a native of Gaza and Hamas' chief negotiator in the ceasefire talks, has held a senior role since at least 2006, according to the US-based NGO, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).

Meshaal, who headed the political bureau from 2004 to 2017, never lived in Gaza. He was born in the West Bank in 1956.

He joined Hamas in Kuwait and later lived in Jordan, Syria, and Qatar. CEP said he oversaw Hamas' evolution into a political-military hybrid.

Currently he is leading the diaspora office of the movement.

Last month, a Hamas source told AFP that al-Hayya had the support of the group's armed wing, the Izzudin Al-Qassam Brigades.

After Israel killed former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, the group chose the then-head of Hamas Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, as his successor.

Israel accuses Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 attack.

He was also killed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza City of Rafah, three months after Haniyeh's killing.

Hamas then chose a five-member interim leadership committee based in Qatar, delaying the appointment of a single leader until the general election, given the risk that the new leader would be targeted by Israel.