Hamas has elected Khalil al-Hayya as its new overall leader, succeeding Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by the Israeli military in Gaza in October 2024. Hayya, who already led the movement in Gaza from exile and served as its chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, is seen as representing the more hardline faction shaped by the war, continuing the political line of Sinwar and the late Ismail Haniyeh. His appointment matters because it signals which strategic direction Hamas will take at a critical moment, as the group navigates ceasefire arrangements and pressure over disarmament following its devastating conflict with Israel.

The 65-year-old survived an Israeli air strike in Doha, Qatar, in September 2025 that killed five lower-level Hamas members, including one of his sons, along with a Qatari security officer; two more of his sons died in earlier assassination attempts and a fourth was killed in a Gaza strike in May. Hayya won the leadership after two rounds of voting, defeating former political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal, whose supporters favoured a more pragmatic political approach, whereas Hayya's backers argue Gaza's leadership should now steer the movement and resist pressure to disarm without guarantees of a political path to Palestinian statehood.