Khalil al-Hayya’s rise within Hamas reflects both the internal restructuring of the group’s leadership and the external pressures imposed by Israel’s targeted assassinations. With the deaths of Yahya Sinwar in Gaza and Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, Hayya has emerged as one of the last surviving figures of Hamas’ old guard, combining political acumen, ideological loyalty, and regional connections to keep the organization’s leadership intact. His survival in Qatar despite Israel’s latest strike underscores not only his importance to Hamas’ current strategy but also the intensity with which Israel views him as a threat.
Hayya’s career is marked by both personal tragedy and political resilience. Having lost close relatives, including his eldest son and grandchildren, to Israeli airstrikes, he embodies the personal sacrifices that Hamas often emphasizes in its narrative of resistance. Yet his trajectory from a local leader in Gaza to a diplomat-like figure in Doha illustrates how Hamas has evolved beyond being a purely Gaza-based militant movement into a transnational political and military organization. His ability to maintain close ties with Iran, while also navigating channels of negotiation through mediators such as Qatar and Egypt, shows the dual role he plays as both a hardliner and a pragmatist.
The October 7, 2023, attacks, which Hayya later described as intended to be a “limited operation,” highlight the gap between Hamas’ strategic intentions and the catastrophic escalation that followed. His framing of the attack as a bid to capture Israeli soldiers for prisoner exchanges reflects the group’s long-standing focus on leveraging hostages, but the massive casualties and global backlash transformed the conflict into the deadliest chapter in the Israeli–Palestinian struggle. Hayya’s defense of the operation as a way to restore international attention to Palestine signals his recognition of Hamas’ broader political goals, even as the cost in human lives has been staggering.
As one of the main negotiators for ceasefire deals, Hayya has become the face of Hamas’ diplomacy. He has repeatedly led delegations in Qatar, where talks have revolved around ending the war, securing humanitarian relief, and arranging prisoner swaps. His participation in restoring ties with Damascus in 2022 further reflects his ability to realign Hamas within Iran’s broader “axis of resistance,” reinforcing the group’s survival through regional alliances.
At sixty-four, Hayya represents both continuity and transition within Hamas. He is part of the generation that founded the movement in the late 1980s, alongside figures like Haniyeh and Sinwar, but he also operates within a geopolitical environment far more complex than the one in which Hamas was born. Israel’s pursuit of him highlights his strategic value, while his ability to remain active abroad ensures that Hamas retains an external political infrastructure even as Gaza suffers immense devastation. In many ways, Hayya now stands at the center of Hamas’ future — balancing the pressures of war, the expectations of regional backers, and the mounting desperation of Palestinians caught in an unending cycle of violence.
