This article is about the highest position within the Islamic Resistance Movement or Hamas. For the political party itself, see Islamic Resistance Movement.
"Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau" and "Hamas Political Bureau" redirect here. For the political party of this office, see Hamas. For other uses, see Hamas (disambiguation).
"Chairman of the Hamas Shura Council" and "Hamas Shura Council" redirect here. For the Islamic term of collective decision-making, see Shura. For other uses, see Shura (disambiguation).
Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau
رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة حماس(Arabic) Ra’īs al-Maktab as-Siasi li-Ḥarakat Ḥamās
The chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, Khaled Mashal, took over Hamas leadership; he was declared the overall and de facto leader of Hamas from April 2004. Although he had held this position from 1996, he was not the overall leader of Hamas: the chairman of the Hamas Shura Council at that time was considered to be the de facto leader. Hamas elected Mousa Abu Marzook, the previous political bureau's chairman, as the deputy chairman of Hamas Political Bureau in January 1997.
In May 2017, Ismail Haniyeh, the deputy chairman of Hamas Political Bureau, was elected by the Hamas Shura Council as the chairman of Hamas Political Bureau. Hamas also elected Saleh al-Arouri as the deputy chairman of Hamas Political Bureau. However, Al-Arouri was assassinated by Israeli strike in January 2024. Six months later, Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran while attending for the inauguration ceremony of the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian.[citation needed]
On 31 July 2024, Khaled Mashal was selected as the acting chairman of Hamas Political Bureau until the new leader was elected.[13][14] Mashal, the then-chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, was expected to lead Hamas again.[15]
On 5 August 2024, Muhammad Ismail Darwish was expected to become the next chairman of Hamas Political Bureau.[16][17][18][19] Before this, he serving as the chairman of the Hamas Shura Council from October 2023, succeeded Osama Mazini, after his killing on 16 October 2023 by Israeli strike.
However, on 6 August 2024, Yahya Sinwar was officially appointed as the next chairman of Hamas Political Bureau and de facto leader of Hamas, six days after the assassination of his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh. The announcement came after the Shura Council, the body that elects Hamas' politburo, voted unanimously to choose Sinwar as the new leader, in what was described by a Hamas official as a "message of defiance to Israel".[20][21]Khalil al-Hayya was selected as the deputy chairman of Hamas Political Bureau on the same day. Previously, Al-Hayya was the deputy leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Khalil al-Hayya, previous deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau who served from 6 August 2024 until 16 October 2024, when Yahya Sinwar was killed by the IDF. He is also serving as the deputy leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2017.
On 16 October 2024, Sinwar was killed after leading Hamas for only two and a half months.[22]
In the aftermath, Khaled Mashal was performing duties again as acting de facto leader of Hamas, for the second time, until the new leader was elected.[23][24][25][26]
Sinwar recommended that, in case of his death, Hamas appoint a council of leaders to govern and manage the transition following his death. The Sinwar's recommended council include:[27][28]
The Hamas official indicated that Khalil al-Hayya has assumed responsibility for most political and foreign affairs in addition to his direct oversight of Gaza-related matters and is effectively the acting de facto leader of Hamas.[31]
In May 2025, Mohammed Sinwar, the new military leader of Hamas in Gaza, was killed by Israeli military.[35]
Structure of organisation and selection
Hamas inherited a tripartite organization of social services, religious instruction, and military operations overseen by a Shura Council. It used to have four different roles:
a military division for acquiring weapons and conducting operations (Arabic: Al-Mujahideen al Filastinun);
a charitable social welfare division (Arabic: Dawah); and
a media branch (Arabic: A'alam).
Hamas is led both internally, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and externally, by two groups: Kuwaiti organization (Kuwaidi), led by Khaled Mashal, and a Gaza group led by Mousa Abu Marzook, who was exiled first to Damascus and subsequently to Egypt. Following its leader Mashal's decision to demand that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait and defy Yasser Arafat's decision to support Saddam Hussein in the invasion, the Kuwaiti group of Palestinian exiles started to receive substantial money from the Gulf States. Ismail Haniyeh was selected by the Hamas Shura Council in May 2017 to succeed Mashal as the leader of Hamas.
The organization's operational actions are concealed by a veil of secrecy, making its actual structure unclear. Although this has been called into question, Hamas formally claims that the wings are separate and independent. Its wings, it has been suggested, are both distinct and united for political purposes, both foreign and internal. The wide network of informants and the depth of Israeli intelligence surveillance pose challenges to communication between Hamas' military and political wings. Field commanders were granted more discretionary authority over operations and the political direction of the militant wing was weakened following the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.
The Shura Council (Arabic: Majlis al-Shura), with nearly 60 members, most in Gaza, is Hamas' highest consultative body, overseeing the election of the 15-member Political Bureau (Arabic: Al-Maktab al-Siyasi).[36][37] It is modeled after the Quranic idea of shura, or popular assembly, which Hamas officials claim allows for democracy within an Islamic framework. The General Consultative Council, whose members are chosen from local council groupings, replaced the Shura Council as the organization became increasingly intricate and Israeli pressure mounted.[citation needed]
Powers and duties
The chairman of Hamas Political Bureau was expected to rule over Hamas and all its components. However, there's some exception on its military operations, who have their own military command.
Hamas closed its office in Damascus in 2012 after supporting the revolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad repeatedly denounced Hamas for betrayal and hypocrisy. Hamas announced in August 2023 that it intended to reopen its office in Syria.[38]
Hamas's political leadership has resided in Doha, Qatar, since 2012, in an arrangement supported by the United States. In 2024, Hamas explored moving its political headquarters to another country, such as Oman, amidst pressure from the United States and Israel over Qatar's failure to use its leverage with Hamas to facilitate a ceasefire deal to the Gaza war.[39]
The previous chairman, Yahya Sinwar, led Hamas from Gaza Strip, Palestine, since he also led the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar was the first chairman of Hamas Political Bureau to reside in Gaza Strip, doing so while the Gaza war was ongoing. The chairman of Hamas Political Bureau usually lived outside the Gaza Strip, due to the security reasons.
List of leaders
This is the list of leaders of Hamas since its inception in December 1987.
No.
Portrait
Name (Birth–Death)
Term of office
Deputy (Time in office)
Ref.
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Chairman of the Hamas Shura Council رئيس مجلس شورى لحركة حماس(Arabic)
List of current members of political bureau of Hamas
The Politburo comprises 15 members elected by the Hamas Shura Council every four years. Until his death on 16 October 2024 it was headed by Yahya Sinwar, who replaced Ismail Haniyeh in August 2024 following the assassination of Haniyeh. In addition to the main Politburo, Hamas has regional political bureau elected by four regional shura council, representing the West Bank, Gaza, the diaspora / Palestinian abroad, and Israeli prisoners.[citation needed]
List of current members of main political bureau
This is the current list of the main political bureau of Hamas. All these members was elected since May 2017.[51]
↑ The first and second chairman of Hamas Shura Council resides in Gaza Strip, Palestine, before both of them were assassinated by an Israeli strike. They led the overall Hamas there, although the headquarter (HQ) of Hamas was moved to Amman, Jordan in 1992. The first and second leaders of Hamas led here until 2004, where the full power of Hamas leadership was transferred from chairman of Hamas Shura Council to chairman of Hamas Political Bureau.
↑ The first and second chairman of Hamas Political Bureau resides in Amman, Jordan. They also open their headquarter (HQ) there since the creation of this position in Hamas (Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau).
↑ However, on 8 November 2024, Hamas was asked by Qatar authorities to leave the country by the U.S. request following Hamas's rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal.[6][7]
↑ However, Khaled Mashal period as chairman of Hamas Political Bureau was extended twice.[8]
1 2 The post will remain vacant until March 2025. Khalil al-Hayya, who served as the previous deputy chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau under Yahya Sinwar, was promoted to become a member of the quinquevirate leadership that will lead Hamas until the next election that will take place in March 2025.[citation needed]
↑ The name of the fifth member was not published by Hamas "for security reasons".[30]
↑ Al-Rantisi was named the new chairman of the Hamas Shura Council and covering duties as de-facto leader of Hamas after the assassination of Ahmed Yassin. However, he did not last long in holding that position when he was assassinatedwithin a month.
↑ No deputy chairman of the Hamas Shura Council and/or deputy leader of Hamas was appointed at this period of time.
↑ Mashal had been chairman of Hamas Political Bureau since 1996, following the imprisonment of his predecessor, Mousa Abu Marzook, in July 1995. The founder of Hamas, Ahmed Yassin, who also served as chairman of Hamas Shura Council, was designated as the leader of Hamas since its founding, to serve until his death. However, after his assassination in March 2004, the deputy chairman of the Shura Council, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, was appointed as the chairman of Hamas Shura Council and also the de-facto leader of Hamas. After a month, he was assassinated. Thereafter, Mashal took over the leadership of Hamas, and the position of chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau has been regarded as the overall and de-facto leader of Hamas since April 2004. The position of chairman of Hamas Shura Council was not abolished and still continues to lead the Hamas Shura Council, but not the whole of Hamas anymore, just like its predecessors (Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi) had designed.
↑ The post has remained vacant until Khalil al-Hayya selected as the new deputy chairman on 6 August 2024.
↑ Widely suspected, although uncomfirmed by Hamas or al-Haddad, either directly or indirectly.[63]
References
↑ Recknagel, Charles. "Iran: Expulsion From Jordan Only Temporary Setback For Hamas". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 8 August 2024. For years, Amman and Damascus have been safe havens from which the most radical leaders of Hamas could operate beyond the reach of the Israeli and Palestinian Authority security services. But Jordan's recent closure of the Amman office of Hamas, the acronym of the Islamic Resistance Movement, now has changed that equation and set the group looking for new political bases and allies abroad.
↑ Cafiero, Giorgio. "Why Syria is So Silent About Hamas". Stimson. Retrieved 8 August 2024. Syria first became a state sponsor of Hamas in the 1990s. American and Israeli pressure had contributed to Jordan's decision to evict the Palestinian group's exiled political leadership from Amman in 1999, resulting in Hamas's external headquarters moving to Damascus in 2001 following a brief stay in Qatar. Damascus provided Hamas the freedom to train its militants on Syrian soil while the Syrian Ministry of Information became the venue for Hamas's exiled political leadership to hold press conferences. This support was one major reason why the U.S. State Department has kept Syria on its "state sponsors of terrorism" list for so many years.
↑ Cafiero, Giorgio. "Why Syria is So Silent About Hamas". Stimson. Retrieved 8 August 2024. But the Syrian government's relationship with Hamas drastically deteriorated after Hamas sided with Assad's opponents after the Arab Spring erupted in 2011. By February 2012, the Damascus-Hamas rift resulted in the resistance organization's politburo leaving Syria and relocating to Egypt and Qatar.
↑ Miller, Elhanan. "Cairo agrees to host Hamas headquarters, Arabic daily says". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 8 August 2024. Less than one year after closing its headquarters in Damascus, Hamas's "outside" leadership has found a new home in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Hamas leaders are split between Gaza, where they took violent control in 2007, the West Bank, where they seek to gain control, and elsewhere in the region. London-based daily Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood administration has agreed to open a Hamas office in eastern Cairo and establish a joint committee with Hamas to discuss issues of security along the Gaza-Egypt border.
↑ "Hamas opens office in Cairo". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 8 August 2024. The Egyptian government agreed to allow the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, to open an office in Cairo and appoint a permanent representative there. Egyptian sources stated that the Hamas delegation currently visiting Cairo agreed with the Egyptian intelligence agency to appoint a representative for the movement in the Egyptian capital, who will act as a coordinator to discuss and deal with various issues. The agreement between the two sides stipulates that there will be permanent representation for the movement in Cairo in order to follow up on the movement's affairs, as well as the affairs of Gazans in Egypt.
↑ "Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to step down from his position". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2024. Abu Marzouk is expected to be in contention to succeed Meshaal, although Ismail Haniyeh, the de facto prime minister of Gaza, could also stand for the political leadership. The post is meant to be limited to two terms, although Meshaal's period at the helm was extended twice.
↑ "Khaled Mashal has taken over as the terrorist group's de facto leader". Israele.net (in Italian). Retrieved 17 October 2024. Translated to English: Following the killing of Yahya Sinwar, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal (who is based in Qatar) has taken over as the terrorist group's de facto leader, who is also responsible for the hostage negotiations, Lebanese network LBCI reported Thursday evening, saying that Hamas has informed Turkey, Qatar and Egypt.
↑ Jha, Mausam. "How Benjamin Netanyahu boosted rise of Khaled Meshaal, likely new chief of Hamas". Mint. Retrieved 3 August 2024. Khaled Meshaal led Hamas from exile in Damascus from 2004 until early 2012, when he left due to President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on Sunnis during the uprising. He now splits his time between Doha and Cairo.
↑ Sarah, El Debb. "The war in Gaza might complicate Haniyeh's replacement. Here are the possible contenders". Associate Press. Retrieved 9 August 2024. Haniyeh headed the group's political bureau until his death. His deputy was Saleh Arouri, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut in January and would have been the automatic replacement. Arouri's post has remained empty since his death.
↑ Alshawabkeh, Lina. "Hamas: Who are the group's most prominent leaders?". BBC News. Retrieved 8 August 2024. Meshaal, who lives in Qatar, visited the Gaza Strip for the first time in 2012. He was received by Palestinian officials and crowds of Palestinians came out to welcome him. Hamas elected Ismail Haniyeh to succeed Meshaal as head of its political bureau in 2017, and Meshaal became head of the group's political bureau abroad.
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