Hamas Selects Khaled Meshaal as Overall Leader

Hamas members in the Gaza Strip have completed internal elections and selected Khaled Meshaal as the movement's overall leader and head of its political bureau, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported.

According to the report, Khalil al-Hayya was chosen as leader in Gaza and Zaher Jabareen will lead the movement in the West Bank. Both had already held these positions on an interim basis following the killing of Yahya Sinwar and Saleh al-Arouri in Israeli operations.

Al-Akhbar noted that the results reflect only the Gaza vote. It remains unclear whether elections were held in other areas that form part of the decision-making process, including the West Bank and the diaspora.

Hamas has not issued an official statement on the matter.

The movement typically holds elections every four years. The last vote, originally scheduled for 2025, was postponed due to the war triggered by the 7 October 2023 attack, during which Israel killed most of the movement's senior political and military leaders.

(timesofisrael, bak)