Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator in Gaza talks, elected terror group’s leader

Nurit Yohanan is The Times of Israel's Palestinian and Arab world correspondent

Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)

Khalil al-Hayya has been elected head of Hamas, the terror group announces.

Al-Hayya, who previously served as the head of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, is elected as the terror movement’s new chief in Hamas’s internal elections.

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 onslaught and massacre in 2023.

For the past two years, since the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the organization has been led by a five-member leadership council that included al-Hayya.

Al-Hayya was born and spent most of his life in the Gaza Strip. Shortly before the October 7 massacre, he left Gaza for Qatar, where he has primarily been based since.

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