Khalil al-Hayya has been elected to be the new leader of Hamas, the terror group announced Monday.

Al-Hayya, who previously served as the head of the group’s political bureau in Gaza, defeated former Hamas chief and veteran leader Khaled Mashaal in the leadership contest. Al-Hayya, unlike Mashaal, is close to the regime in Iran, and his election underlines the ongoing close ties between Iran and Hamas, both of which are avowedly committed to the destruction of Israel.

The top official was the chief negotiator for the terror group during ceasefire-hostage release talks to end the war in Gaza, which began after the October 7 Hamas-led onslaught and massacre in 2023.

He has also served on the five-member leadership council that has led Hamas since the 2024 killing of former leader Yahya Sinwar, the chief architect of the October 7 attack.

Al-Hayya is closely tied to the Gaza Strip, where Hamas controls part of the territory and much of the population. Born in Gaza City in 1960 and raised there, he spent his entire life in the territory until the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

Just days before the attack, he left the Strip along with other senior figures in Hamas’s Gaza-based political bureau and relocated to Qatar, where he has remained since.

He survived a controversial Israeli assassination attempt in Doha last year, though one of his sons was killed in the strike. Another son of his was killed earlier this year in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

“Khalil al-Hayya was elected by an overwhelming majority,” a senior Hamas official told AFP, adding that he is expected to formally assume the role next week.

“The political bureau will meet in Istanbul within days to form committees and begin restructuring Hamas’s leadership bodies,” the official added.

The official said the current five-member leadership council will be dissolved, with its members submitting their resignations to the group’s senior Shura Council.

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