A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the group was in the final phase of selecting a new leader, with two prominent figures competing for the position.

Hamas recently completed the formation of a new Shura Council of more than 80 members, a consultative body largely composed of religious scholars, as well as a new 18-member political bureau, the official said.

Since Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, in response to Hamas’ attack on Israel, Israeli forces have killed several Hamas leaders, including two former chiefs. The country has also killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.

“The movement has completed its internal elections in the three regions and has reached the final stage of selecting the head of the political bureau,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.

He said the race for the group’s leadership was now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya.

A second Hamas source confirmed the development, while a third source said the new leader would lead the movement only “for one year”.

Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in Gaza, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for violating the agreement.

Members of the council are elected every four years by representatives from Hamas’s three branches: the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and the movement’s external leadership.

Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails are also eligible to vote.

The council subsequently elects the political bureau, which in turn selects the head of the movement.

Experienced leaders

Both Meshaal and Hayya have years of experience within the movement.

Hayya, 65, a Gaza native and Hamas’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, has held senior roles since at least 2006, according to the US-based NGO the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).

Meshaal, who led the political bureau from 2004 to 2017, has never lived in Gaza. He was born in the West Bank in 1956.

He joined Hamas in Kuwait and later lived in Jordan, Syria and Qatar. The CEP says he oversaw Hamas’s evolution into a political-military hybrid.

He currently heads the movement’s diaspora office.

Last month, a Hamas source told AFP that Hayya enjoyed backing from the group’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.

After Israel killed former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, the group chose its then-Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, as his successor.

Israel accused Sinwar of masterminding the October 7 attack. He, too, was killed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Hamas then opted for a five-member leadership committee based in Qatar, postponing the appointment of a single leader until elections, given the risk of the new chief being targeted by Israel.