Khalil al-Hayya

Khalil al-Hayya (; born 5 November 1960) is a Palestinian politician and former lecturer who has served as the 5th and current chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau since July 2026. He previously served the deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from August to October 2024, where he succeeded Saleh al-Arouri, who was assassinated in January 2024. He also served as one of the acting quinquevirate leadership of Hamas, alongside Khaled Mashal, Zaher Jabarin, Muhammad Ismail Darwish, and Nizar Awadallah, after Yahya Sinwar was killed by the IDF in October 2024.

One of the founding members of Hamas, Al-Hayya was known as a close associate and trustee of Yahya Sinwar, serving as his deputy when Sinwar was the de facto leader of Hamas in 2024. Prior to his political career, he was a lecturer and academician, and he served as the dean of student affairs for the Islamic University of Gaza.

Early life and education Al-Hayya was born in Gaza City on November 5, 1960, and lived through the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip after the Six-Day War. During the occupation, the IDF counducted raids on Al-Hayya's family home and arrested his relatives. In March 1980, Al-Hayya met Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, which inspired him to become an activist.

In 1983, Al-Hayya graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a bachelor's degree. He served as the dean of student affairs during his studies. In 1986, Al-Hayya received a master's degree from the University of Jordan, and in 1997, he received a doctorate in hadith studies from Sudan. He participated in the First Intifada and was arrested and imprisoned by the IDF multiple times, During the First Intifiada, Al-Hayya worked as a part-time teacher.

Political career Al-Hayya has been a Hamas official for decades. He was regarded a close associate of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar,

Al-Hayya participated in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and won a seat in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

In November 2019, al-Hayya and Rawhi Mushtaha led a delegation that departed from the Gaza Strip to visit several countries, including Turkey and Lebanon. Prior to this trip, the delegation reportedly met with Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo.

Al-Hayya has also headed reconciliation talks with Hamas's rival Fatah. In January 2022, he visited Algeria alongside Husam Badran for intra-Palestinian reconciliation discussions between Hamas and Fatah, following an invitation from Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune.

In October 2022, al-Hayya announced that he and representatives from other Palestinian factions held a "historic" meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, marking the first such meeting in a decade. Al-Hayya stated that they agreed to end the rift between Hamas and Syria, which began when Hamas refused to support the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war. He expressed regret for any "mistaken action" taken against Syria in the past and emphasized the importance of the meeting in relaunching joint Palestinian-Syrian efforts. Al-Hayya praised Syria for its longstanding support of the Palestinian cause and noted that Assad reaffirmed Syria's commitment to backing the Palestinian “resistance.”

Al-Hayya represented Hamas during indirect negotiations with Israel for a hostage and ceasefire deal during the Gaza war. Following the killing of Yahya Sinwar in October 2024, al-Hayya was considered a strong candidate to succeed him as the head of Hamas’s political office.

Secret meeting minutes reviewed by The New York Times revealed that in July 2023, al-Hayya discussed plans of the October 7 attacks with senior Iranian commander Mohammed Said Izadi of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who was based in Lebanon and helped oversee Tehran’s relations with Palestinian armed groups. The minutes indicated that al-Hayya informed Izadi that Hamas required assistance in targeting sensitive sites during the initial phase of the attack.

On 20 July 2026, al-Hayya was elected chairman of Hamas's political bureau in an internal run-off election against Khaled Mashal within the Hamas Shura Council, winning in a narrow margin.

In 2009, al-Hayya addressed coercive measures, such as mandates for female lawyers to wear hijabs and prohibitions on public touching, stating, "Neither the government nor Hamas has come out with any decision regarding such orders. We are an Islamic resistance movement that will never oblige anyone against his or her will. Advice is the best tactic." His remarks came amid tensions with extremist factions advocating for stricter religious enforcement in Gaza.

In 2011, al-Hayya called on the United Nations to recognize Palestine within its pre-1948 borders.

Al-Hayya said Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th since it was necessary to "change the entire equation and not just have a clash," he also said: “We succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and now no one in the region is experiencing calm." Speaking to The New York Times, he said that Hamas's goal is not "to run Gaza and bring it water and electricity" but to renew attention on the Palestinian cause, and he said Hamas began October 7 to tell people that the Palestinian cause would not die.

In November 2021, al-Hayya stated in an interview with Al Jazeera that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is “no longer accepted” by the Palestinian people, claiming it has become a burden on the Palestinian cause. He called for a redefinition of the PA’s role based on a comprehensive national vision and emphasized the need for a revamped leadership "on the basis of a political program representing all the Palestinians and a mechanism for confronting the occupation." He condemned the security coordination between PA forces and Israel in the West Bank and blamed Abbas for the rift between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In November 2023, al-Hayya called the October 7 attack "a great act", and stated that Hamas leadership knew that "the reaction to this great act would be big".

In April 2024, al-Hayya said that Hamas would agree to a ceasefire with Israel, lay down its arms and transform into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established on the pre-1967 borders. He also clarified that the proposed Palestinian state would require "the return of Palestinian refugees" to present-day Israel.

In October 2024, after the killing of Yahya Sinwar, al-Hayya said that "Hamas is moving forward until the establishment of the Palestinian state on all Palestinian soil with Jerusalem as its capital."

In January 2025, al-Hayya called the October 7 attack a "historic moment" and praised the attack as a "military accomplishment" and "a source of pride for our people… to be passed down from generation to generation".

Assassination attempt On 9 September 2025, al-Hayya and other Hamas leaders were targeted by an Israeli airstrike on a residential compound housing Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar. in a failed assassination attempt on him. Another son, daughter-in-law, and grandson were killed by an airstrike on his home in July 2014 during the 2014 Gaza War.

During a news conference amid widespread protests over severe electricity shortages, al-Hayya stated "I suffer like you. I don’t have electricity in my home" and attributed delays in upgrading the electricity supply lines to the Palestinian Authority.

In 2025, The New Arab reported that he resided in the neighborhood of Shuja'iyya until "several years ago".

Another of al-Hayaa's sons, Himam al-Hayaa, was killed in the Israeli strike on Hamas headquarters in Qatar on 9 September 2025.

Another of al-Hayya's sons, Azzam al-Hayya, was killed following an Israeli air strike in Gaza on 6 May 2026.