Hamas movement announced on Monday the election of Khalil al-Hayya as head of the movement's political bureau, succeeding Yahya Sinwar.

Three sources from Hamas earlier reported that the final stage of the election for the head of the movement's political bureau (its highest leadership level) was taking place on Monday in Turkey.

The three sources told Asharq Al-Awsat separately that members of the political bureau and the movement's Shura Council are in Turkey and participated in the elections, as was the case in mid-May.

The candidates for the head of the political bureau were Khaled Meshaal, who previously led the bureau, and al-Hayya, who was head of its office in Gaza and currently leads its negotiating team in the ceasefire agreement talks in the Strip.

The sources indicated that the elections concluded at the level of the Gaza Strip and West Bank districts in recent days, and were also held in Lebanon and other areas abroad the day before yesterday, while the final decision remains today among the political bureau members and the supreme body of the Shura Council.

(From right) Members of Hamas leadership council: Mohammad Darwish, Nizar Awadallah, and Khalil al-Hayya during a meeting with late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in February 2025 (Khamenei website - AFP)

The meeting was supposed to be held in Turkey on Wednesday, but a source merely said that 'its early convening came as a result of many political and security circumstances regarding the Palestinian situation and the region.'

Hamas is facing its most severe crisis since its founding in 1987; Israeli targeting that began after the October 7, 2023 attack has affected various branches and levels, causing multiple organizational and financial crises.

Another Hamas source earlier explained that the elections in the Gaza district 'were decided in favor of Khalil al-Hayya by a majority, while Meshaal received higher votes in the West Bank and abroad.'

Khaled Meshaal (X).

Hamas had announced that the first round failed to decide the election for either al-Hayya or Meshaal.

At the time, sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that some participants used blank ballots without voting for either candidate, for the first time in Hamas election history.

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For about a year and a half, a 'Leadership Council' has been managing Hamas affairs, and at the beginning of this year, a new movement began to elect a new leader to lead the movement for the remainder of the current political bureau term (which was to end in 2025 and was extended for an additional year), until general elections are held at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

There was an attempt to hold elections for the movement's presidency in mid-February, but the American-Israeli war on Iran disrupted them, according to sources at the time.

The elections will be limited to selecting a new head of the political bureau to lead Hamas domestically and abroad, and there will be no comprehensive elections for the bureau before the end of this year or the beginning of 2027.

The current leadership council, which includes Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and abroad, as well as the movement's Secretary-General, and is headed by Shura Council Chairman Mohammad Darwish, will become an advisory council that follows all Hamas issues domestically and abroad, with members consulting on the fate of those issues.