Khalil Al-Hayya: Man Who Led Gaza Ceasefire Talks Will Now Lead Hamas

Ten months after surviving an Israeli strike in Doha that killed one of his sons, Khalil al-Hayya has been elected Hamas's new chief. The group announced on Monday that its long-time negotiator had won the internal contest by a wide margin, succeeding Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October 2024.

In its official statement, Hamas said, "The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announces the election of brother mujahid Khalil al-Hayya as head of the movement's political bureau, succeeding the martyred leader Yahya al-Sinwar."

A senior Hamas official told AFP that al-Hayya "was elected by an overwhelming majority" in a run-off against former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, and is expected to formally take up the role next week. The official added that the political bureau would meet in Istanbul within days to set up committees and begin restructuring the group's leadership bodies. The five-member council that has run Hamas since Sinwar's death, headed by Mohammed Darwish, will be dissolved, with its members submitting resignations to the group's Shura Council.

Ali Khamenei welcoming Khalil al-Hayya in Tehran.
Photo Credit: AFP

A Hamas source told AFP that the election process was conducted through "a highly complex and secretive mechanism because of the difficult security situation and the occupation's assassination of several political and military leaders." Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, has since declared its "full support" for al-Hayya.

From Teacher To Top Negotiator

Al-Hayya was born in the Gaza Strip in 1960, during the period of Egyptian administration. He studied at the Islamic University of Gaza for his Bachelor's degree, later completing a Master's in Hadith at the University of Jordan and a doctorate at the University of the Holy Quran and Islamic Sciences. He joined Hamas after finishing his undergraduate studies during the First Intifada, working part-time as a teacher at the time.

He has been part of the movement since it was founded in 1987, having joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1980s alongside Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar. Over the following decades, he held posts in student and workers' unions, was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, and became deputy chairman of Hamas's regional political bureau in Gaza in 2017. He was widely regarded as one of Sinwar's most trusted lieutenants, someone the late leader felt he could rely on.

Al-Hayya rose steadily in prominence as senior Hamas figures were killed one after another, including Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Tehran in July 2024. Since then, he has been seen as the group's most influential figure abroad, based in Qatar, where he has served as Hamas's point person for relations with the Arab and Islamic world.

Al-Hayya and his family have been repeatedly targeted over the years. In 2007, an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza City's Shejaia district killed several relatives. In 2008, his son Hamza was killed in a separate strike. During the 2014 Gaza war, his eldest son Osama was killed along with Osama's wife and three children when their house was bombed.

On 9 September 2025, al-Hayya and other Hamas leaders were meeting in Doha to discuss a ceasefire proposal put forward by the United States when Israeli forces struck the residential complex where they were staying. The strike killed and injured Hamas members, Qatari security personnel and several civilians, though no senior Hamas figures were killed. Al-Hayya survived, but lost another son in the attack.

Central Role In Ceasefire Negotiations

Throughout the Gaza war, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, al-Hayya was at the centre of indirect negotiations with Israel. These talks eventually led to a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025 that halted major fighting, although Israel has continued strikes on Hamas and other militant groups it says pose an imminent threat. He also led Hamas's delegation in reconciliation talks with the rival Fatah movement, and in 2022 headed a Hamas team sent to Damascus to repair ties with then Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, mending a relationship broken a decade earlier over Hamas's backing of the uprising against him.

Speaking to The New York Times in 2023, al-Hayya described Hamas's goals, saying, "Hamas's goal is not to run Gaza and to bring it water and electricity and such. Hamas, the Qassam and the resistance woke the world up from its deep sleep and showed that this issue must remain on the table." He added, "This battle was not because we wanted fuel or labourers. It did not seek to improve the situation in Gaza. This battle is to completely overthrow the situation."