Khalil al-Hayya’s election as the new head of Hamas is far more than the filling of a position left vacant by war. Decided by a single vote after nearly two years of collective leadership, it reveals the divisions within a movement transformed by exile, regional upheaval and its increasingly consequential relationship with Iran.

Al-Hayya, Yahya Sinwar’s former deputy in Gaza and a member of the five-person council that has led Hamas since Sinwar’s killing in October 2024, defeated former political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal in a 35-34 vote. That razor-thin result encapsulates the central question now facing Hamas: whether it can reunite its competing currents or whether al-Hayya’s victory will consolidate the influence of the camp most closely aligned with Tehran.

From Gaza to the diaspora

When Hamas was established in December 1987, who stood at the head of the movement mattered far less than it does today. Its leadership structure was considerably simpler before growing more complex over the following two decades.

Although formally born in Gaza, the Islamic Resistance Movement, known by its Arabic acronym Hamas, was the joint project of several organisations operating under the umbrella of the Bilad al-Sham, or Levant, branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. These included Muslim Brotherhood organisations in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Jordan as well as affiliates across the diaspora, particularly in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Initially, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza exercised overall control. Like Muslim Brotherhood organisations elsewhere, it was governed by an elected Shura Council representing different parts of the Gaza Strip. The council, in turn, elected an executive office from among its members.

It was this executive office that met on December 9, 1987, and decided to transform the Muslim Brotherhood’s organisation in Gaza into the Islamic Resistance Movement. Its members were Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdulaziz al-Rantissi, Salah Shihada, Abdulfattah Dukhan, Muhammad Sham’ah, Ibrahim al-Yazuri and Issa al-Nashar.

That leadership model was soon........

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