According to a statement, the Palestinian armed group Hamas has selected Khalil al-Hayya as its new leader.
He succeeds Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in October 2024, the BBC reported.
Al-Hayya, who had already been leading the movement in Gaza from exile, was widely seen as representing the faction that emerged from the devastating war with Israel, which began nearly three years ago. A close associate of Sinwar, he is viewed as continuing the political line established by the late Ismail Haniyeh.
As Hamas’ chief negotiator, al-Hayya gained international prominence by leading the group’s delegations in indirect ceasefire talks, meeting with mediators in Egypt and Qatar.
More recently, he had assumed greater responsibility for Hamas’ diplomatic and political strategy.
In September 2025, the 65-year-old survived an Israeli airstrike targeting a meeting of Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar. Five lower-ranking members of the group, including one of his sons, were killed, along with a member of Qatar’s security forces.
At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike targeted Hamas leaders because they had organized the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Two of al-Hayya’s other sons were killed in previous Israeli attempts to target him in Gaza, while a fourth son was killed in an Israeli airstrike in May.
Al-Hayya’s election as head of Hamas’ political bureau followed two rounds of voting, with members reportedly divided over competing visions for the group’s future direction.
The first round ended without a decisive result, with former political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal receiving slightly more votes than al-Hayya but falling short of the required threshold, according to a well-informed Palestinian official familiar with the election.
Under Hamas’ internal rules, a candidate must secure at least 36 votes from the 69-member electoral college to be elected.
The second-round runoff was reportedly decided based on a previously established tie-breaking voting procedure.
