Hamas announces election of Khalil al-Hayya as new leader of the movement

A new leader for Hamas. The Palestinian Islamist movement announced on Monday July 20 that Khalil al-Hayya had been elected new leader, following a vote organized without media coverage after months of collegial leadership following the death of Yahya Sinouar. Leader of Hamas in Gaza and then president of the movement’s political bureau, Yahya Sinouar was killed in October 2024 by the Israeli army during an operation in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Born in 1960, Khalil al-Hayya is Hamas’ main negotiator and spent three years in Israeli prisons. He was also the target of an assassination attempt in Doha in 2025 attributed to Israel.

“Elected by an overwhelming majority”

According to a Hamas official, the vote took place according to a procedure “secret and very complex”due to the security situation and the assassination by Israel of several political and military leaders of the movement. “Khalil al-Hayya was elected by an overwhelming majority by the General Shura Council,” consultative body responsible in particular for electing the governing bodies, a senior Hamas official told AFP, specifying that his candidacy had received almost unanimous support, from Gaza and abroad.

The political bureau will meet in the coming days in Istanbul (Turkey) to form committees and launch the restructuring of the movement’s governing bodies, while the five-member governing body set up after the death of Yahya Sinouar will present its resignation to the General Shura Council.