As Sinwar takes charge, Qatar-based Hamas official to keep leading negotiations
Khalil al-Hayya, who has been representing the terror group during indirect talks with Israel for a hostage-ceasefire deal, is considered well-connected to Iran
Hamas political official Khalil al-Hayya is set to continue leading indirect negotiations with Israel for a Gaza ceasefire with guidance from the group’s newly appointed leader, Yahya Sinwar, who continues to run the war effort inside the enclave, three Palestinian sources including a Hamas official said.
Hamas announced on Tuesday that it had picked Sinwar — the mastermind of the terrorist group’s October 7 invasion and slaughter in Israel — as overall leader, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran last month.
The choice of Sinwar, whom Israel has vowed to kill, is seen signaling a defiant stance by Hamas as the Gaza war grinds on, handing the leadership to a man who is widely thought to be running the war from tunnels beneath the enclave.
Experts on Palestinian politics had seen al-Hayya as a leading candidate to replace Haniyeh, due partly to his good ties with the terror group’s main backer, Iran, whose support will be vital for Hamas, which avowedly seeks to destroy Israel, if it is able to try to recover after the war. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and ensure it cannot rearm or regain power.
Working under the supervision of Haniyeh, al-Hayya has led the group’s delegation in mediated talks with Israel aimed at securing a ceasefire and a deal to exchange Israeli hostages with Palestinians in Israeli jails.
“Dr. Khail al-Hayya is the head of the negotiation team and there is no change to this,” the Hamas official said.
Another source familiar with Hamas deliberations said Hayya had enjoyed the trust of both Haniyeh and Sinwar, adding it was expected that he would “continue to lead the indirect negotiations and be the diplomatic face of the movement.”
Both al-Hayya and Zaher Jabarin, who leads Hamas in the West Bank from outside the Palestinian territories, “will play a bigger role in the future, also as both have good relations with Iran and Hezbollah,” the source said.
The sources declined to be identified because of political sensitivities.
Al-Hayya is Hamas’s deputy leader for Gaza, though he has performed the role from outside the enclave for several years and resides in Qatar.
Sinwar has not appeared in public since the October 7 attack, and is believed to be hiding out in the terror group’s vast underground tunnel network, but he has played a key role in directing military operations and the negotiations for a ceasefire-hostage release deal.
The source familiar with Hamas deliberations said messages continued to be exchanged back and forth between the group’s leaders abroad and Sinwar in the Gaza Strip, but these may take time to deliver.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Sinwar’s selection underscored the weight given by Hamas to the Gaza Strip.
“It is also a message to the (Israeli) occupation that your assassination of Haniyeh brought about counter results,” he said.
The October 7 onslaught saw Hamas terrorists kill some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap 251. One hundred and eleven hostages are still held by Hamas in Gaza; the IDF has said 39 of them are dead.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
