Hamas on Monday named Khalil al-Hayya to head its political bureau.
Hayya served as chief negotiator for the terrorist organization during the Israel-Hamas War. He is the first person appointed to the position since Yahya Sinwar was killed in October 2024.
Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator has become an increasingly central figure in its leadership since the deaths of Sinwar in Gaza and Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed on a visit to Iran in July 2024.
Hayya has become increasingly influential as other senior Hamas officials have been killed in Israeli strikes. He left Gaza several years ago and was based in Qatar.
Hayya established himself in Qatar several years ago
Hayya served as a Hamas point person for ties with Arab and Islamic states. He accompanied Haniyeh on his visit to Tehran in July 2024, during which the latter was assassinated.
The October 7 massacre was supposed to be a limited operation by Hamas to capture “a number of soldiers” and swap them for jailed Palestinians, Hayya reportedly said.
“But the Zionist army unit completely collapsed,” the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center quoted him as saying, referring to the IDF.
The terrorist attack had succeeded in bringing the Palestinian issue back into international focus, Hayya said.