The group’s chief negotiator is reportedly a frontrunner to succeed Yahya Sinwar
Hamas will select a new leader in March, but will keep his identity confidential for security reasons, a spokesperson for the Palestinian militant group has stated. Until then, the group will be managed by a committee of senior officials.
The Gaza-based militant group has been without a leader since last Wednesday, when Yahya Sinwar was killed in a firefight with Israeli troops in Rafah. Sinwar, who previously served as the movement’s chief in Gaza, took the top position in August, after the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran.
With the commander of the group’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in July, overall leadership responsibilities have been assigned to a five-member committee, a Hamas spokesperson told the BBC on Monday.
This committee will consist of Khalil al-Hayya, Khaled Meshaal, Zaher Jabarin, Muhammad Darwish, and a fifth unnamed individual, the spokesperson said. Once a new leader is chosen, he added, his name will be kept secret for security reasons.
Khalil al-Hayya is based in Qatar and currently heads the Hamas delegation in ceasefire talks with Israel. Al-Hayya acknowledged Sinwar’s death in a video message last week, describing the slain militant as a “holy warrior” and “fallen martyr.”
Two Hamas officials told the BBC that al-Hayya has taken on many of Sinwar’s duties, and is considered a strong contender to succeed him as head of the organization.
Alongside Deif, Sinwar was widely regarded as the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that sparked the ongoing war. “Sinwar was responsible for the most brutal attack against Israel in our history,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement last week. “For the past year, Sinwar tried to escape justice. He failed. We said we would find him and bring him to justice, and we did.”
Hamas maintains that it will continue fighting against Israel and will not release the roughly 100 hostages it holds in Gaza until Israel withdraws from the enclave and releases scores of Palestinian prisoners in its jails. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly last month that if Hamas does not surrender, the IDF will keep fighting “until we achieve total victory.”