Hamas is moving to select a new leader within days or weeks, a decision that could shape the terror group’s strategy toward Israel, Iran, and the Arab world as the war in Gaza grinds on, according to a report by the Saudi outlet Asharq citing sources close to Hamas’s leadership.

The report says Hamas has ruled out holding broad internal elections until the war fully ends, but is pressing ahead with leadership selection through its powerful general Shura council. The move comes after months of internal strain following a string of Israeli assassinations that decimated the group’s top command.

Two figures have emerged as the leading contenders: Khaled Mashaal, a former Hamas chief long based abroad, and Khalil al-Hayya, the current head of Hamas’s Gaza politburo and a central figure in the group’s wartime leadership.

At stake is not just a name, but Hamas’s direction.

According to Asharq, Hayya favors the continuation of armed conflict with Israel until Israeli forces withdraw entirely from Gaza. He is widely viewed as closely aligned with Iran and is said to oppose any meaningful compromise while fighting continues.

Mashaal, by contrast, is described as backing negotiated arrangements to end what Hamas calls the “occupation” of Gaza. He is also said to support loosening Hamas’s ties to Tehran and moving closer to Qatar and other Arab states seen as more moderate—a shift that could recalibrate the group’s regional alliances.

Despite those differences, sources cited by Asharq say Hayya is likely to prevail. He reportedly enjoys broad backing from Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank, including West Bank politburo chief Zaher Jabarin, giving him an edge within the electing body.

That body—the general Shura council—consists of roughly 50 members representing Hamas’s three main power centers: Gaza, the West Bank, and the Palestinian diaspora.

Hamas formally elects a leader every four years, but the current cycle has been repeatedly disrupted by the war.

The last leadership election took place in March 2021, elevating Ismail Haniyeh. He was assassinated by Israel in Tehran in July 2024. His successor, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by Israeli forces in Rafah just months later, in October 2024, leaving the group without a permanent chief.

Since then, Hamas has been run by a provisional leadership council headed by Muhammad Ismail Darwish, the Shura council chief. That body includes Hayya, Mashaal, Jabarin, and senior Gaza official Nizar Awadallah.

According to observers cited by Asharq, growing disagreements inside that provisional council—over Hamas’s future control of Gaza and its regional alliances—helped push the group toward holding leadership elections now.

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