Hamas picks Iran-aligned Khalil Al-Hayya as its top leader

Fares Akram, Bloomberg News on Jul 20, 2026

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The militant Palestinian group Hamas chose as the head of its executive body Gaza-born Khalil Al-Hayya, a close affiliate of Iran, over a competitor favored more by Sunni Arab nations.

The secret voting took place in Gaza, the West Bank, inside Israeli prisons and the neighboring Arab countries with refugee Palestinian populations, Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas media described the race between al-Hayya and the other candidate, Khaled Mashaal, as “tight.”

Ten months ago, Israel tried to assassinate al-Hayya when it fired missiles into the Qatari capital Doha where he and other Hamas leaders are based.

The election is unlikely to lead to fundamental change in Hamas, battered by over 30 months of devastating war with Israel. Al-Hayya has been the de facto leader since 2024, when Israel killed his predecessor, Yahya Sinwar, in a Gaza operation. Sinwar had been appointed after Israel killed longtime leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran a few months earlier.

Al-Hayya has been based in Qatar since before the Gaza war. In June, his son was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted two Hamas militants in Gaza. In last year’s attack on Doha which missed him, another son was killed. A third son was killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

The voting was overseen by members of the shadowy Shura Council, the highest decision-making authority within Hamas.