Following Hamas’ top political chief’s assassination on Wednesday, it’s now up to Hamas’ 15-member Politburo to select the new leader who will rule over Gaza.
The committee serves as the de-facto leadership of Hamas, with the bureau previously headed by Ismail Haniyeh prior to his death in Iran as a result of an alleged Israeli “strike.”
Among the Politburo’s leadership is Khaled Meshaal, the man who was poisoned in a botched Israeli assassination attempt in 1997; Hamas’ Gaza leader and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar and Khalil al-Hayya, Sinwar’s deputy and the man leading the ongoing cease-fire negotiations.
With Haniyeh gone, the position of Hamas’s top leader is up for grabs, but Meshaal and al-Hayya tipped as the favorites to succeed.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ exiled leader
Haniyeh was picked as the de-facto face of Hamas in 2017 after being appointed to the position by the terror group’s political bureau.
He ruled the Gaza Strip in exile in the Qatari capital of Doha, and was in charge of speaking on behalf of the group and raising funds for its government and military operations.
Israel has not commented on the strike that killed Haniyeh, with experts noting that the Jewish state typically keeps mum whenever it conducts attacks on Iranian soil.
His deputy chairman, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon earlier this year.
Khaled Meshaal, a previous Israeli target
Meshaal, 68, had once served as Hamas’ exiled leader in the 1990s, with his name becoming famous around the world following his botched assassination attempt in 1997.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the hit on Meshaal, with Israeli agents injecting him with poison just outside his office in the Jordan capital of Amman.
The blatant assassination attempt sparked such fury from Jordan’s king that he threatened to walk out of a peace treaty with Netanyahu and hang the would-be assassin’s if Israel did not hand over the antidote.
Israel agreed to the terms, with Meshaal continuing as the leader of Palestinian diasporic affairs, one of the departments in the Hamas’ Shura Council that served just below Haniyeh and the political bureau.
Meshaal has praised the brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack as proof that Hamas can complete its true goal of wiping out Israel, rejecting any and all proposals for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
Yahya Sinwar, Gaza’s chief in hiding
While Haniyeh and the political bureau lead Hamas, Gaza’s day-to-day affairs are overseen by Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar.
Sinwar, Hamas’ top official in Gaza, has continued to avoid the Israeli military’s campaign across Gaza despite being listed as Israel’s No. 1 enemy.
The Gaza chief, who has repeatedly stalled cease-fire talks with Israel, is believed to be hiding deep within the terror group’s tunnel network, surrounded by hostages and living in radio silence, to avoid detection.
Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza
Beneath Sinwar is Khalil al-Hayya, who has served as the deputy head in Gaza since 2017.
Al-Hayya has been tapped by Iran and its terror proxies in the Middle East as a favorite to succeed Haniyeh, Hamas sources told Reuters.
Al-Hayya has been busy serving as the head of the negotiating team discussing a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel in Qatar and Egypt.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, Meshaal’s deputy
Another notable leader in Hamas’ leadership is Meshaal’s deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, a fellow member of the Politburo.
Marzouk, who spends his time between Gaza, Egypt and Qatar, serves as the leading figure in the reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah, the political party that controls the West Bank.
His work made headlines last week when both Palestinian factions signed an agreement in China last week to form a united government.
Mohammed Deif, Gaza’s shadowy military leader
One of the most important heads in Hamas leadership is Gaza military chief, Mohammed Deif, a fellow Oct.7 mastermind who effectively serves as the Palestinian enclaves second-in-command.
It remains unclear if Deif was killed after a major Israeli airstrike decimated the al-Mawasi area with five 2,000-pound bombs earlier this month.
Israel has had Deif, the head of Hamas’ notorious Qasam Brigades military wing, in its crosshairs for decades. But, he has survived at least seven previous assassination attempts on the elusive leader.
With Post wires
