According to Asharq, Hayya is expected to win due to his popularity in the Gaza Strip and involvement in Hamas operations in the West Bank.
Hamas is planning to hold internal elections to choose its new political bureau head, the Saudi Arabia-based channel Asharq News reported on Saturday.
The election, which was originally set to be held earlier this year, was ordered by a leadership council that was established after the deaths of Hamas’s previous political bureau chiefs Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, who was the mastermind behind Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Asharq News reported that the decision to hold the election, which will result in the dissolution of the transitional leadership council, was forced by “the appearance of contradictory opinions among the members of the council” regarding Hamas’s future in Gaza and ties with regional allies.
Hamas’s Shura Council, made up of approximately 50 individuals representing the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and global Hamas operations, has begun preparations for the election, the Saudi news channel said, adding that the vote will occur within the next few days or weeks.
Candidates disagree on Hamas strategy, Iran ties
The two candidates up for the position are Hamas chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya and Khaled Mashaal. According to Asharq, Hayya is expected to win due to his popularity in the Gaza Strip and involvement in Hamas operations in the West Bank.
Hayya’s platform is based on maintaining the current status quo of Hamas’s strategy, which includes “armed confrontation with Israel in the Gaza Strip until the war ends and the Israeli army completely withdraws,” the news agency said.
In contrast, Mashaal is reportedly leaning toward a path based on trying to distance Hamas from Iranian influence, strengthening ties with more moderate Arab nations, and continuing to participate in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Gaza.
Hayya and Mashaal were two of the three Hamas terror leaders targeted by an unsuccessful Israeli assassination attempt in Doha in early September.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Hundreds rally in West Bank against Israeli death penalty for Palestinians - 2Earth's newfound 'episodic-squishy lid' may guide our search for habitable worlds
- 3Don't miss Jupiter shining close to the waning gibbous moon on Dec. 7
- 4Putting resources into Yourself: Self-awareness Techniques
- 5Poll: Only 25% of Americans think Trump has 'followed through' on his promise to release the Epstein files
- What were the little white pills found in Tiger Woods's pocket at the scene of his crash? What to know about hydrocodone.
- Are multiverses real? An astrophysicist explains why it depends on how you define ‘real’
- Share your pick for the riding area that characterizes your surf undertakings!
- Doomed SpaceX Starlink satellite photographed from orbit
- Germany expresses 'great concern' over Israel's new death penalty law
- Plans for ‘stop anywhere’ night buses recommended by government for women’s safety
- Fetterman says he's back home after a fall put the Pennsylvania senator in the hospital
- Get To Be familiar with The Historical backdrop Of Western Medication
- Greenland’s melting ice and landslide-prone fjords make the oil and minerals Trump is eyeing dangerous to extract
