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Khalil Al-Hayya, a prominent Hamas leader targeted by Israel in Qatar on Tuesday, has risen to a crucial role within the Palestinian group’s hierarchy following the deaths of Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar last year.
Israeli officials informed Reuters that the strike aimed to hit top Hamas figures, including Hayya, the exiled chief of Gaza and a key negotiator. Two Hamas insiders confirmed to Reuters that their ceasefire negotiation team in Doha was unharmed.
Hayya has been a pivotal figure in ceasefire negotiations since the conflict two years ago, becoming the most influential leader abroad for Hamas since Israel killed Haniyeh in Iran in July 2024.
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Part of a five-member leadership council steering Hamas since Sinwar’s assassination by Israel in Gaza last October, Hayya has deep roots in the Gaza Strip. He has suffered personal losses, including his eldest son, due to Israeli strikes, reinforcing his veteran status within the group.
Known for maintaining strong ties with Iran, a critical supplier of arms and funding to Hamas, Hayya has been instrumental in negotiating truces with Israel, notably ending the 2014 conflict and attempting to resolve the current Gaza war.
Born in Gaza in 1960, Hayya joined Hamas at its inception in 1987, after initially becoming involved with the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1980s alongside Haniyeh and Sinwar, according to Hamas sources.
In Gaza, he faced multiple detentions by Israel.
In 2007, an Israeli airstrike hit his family home in Gaza City’s Sejaiyeh neighborhood, causing several family fatalities. During the 2014 conflict, his eldest son Osama’s home was bombed, resulting in the deaths of Osama, his wife, and three children.
Hayya was absent during these attacks, having relocated from Gaza to foster Hamas’ relationships with Arab and Islamic nations, basing himself in Qatar.
He accompanied Haniyeh to Tehran in July, during which Haniyeh was assassinated.
‘Limited Operation’
Hayya reportedly stated the October 7 attacks, which triggered the Gaza conflict, were initially intended as a limited operation by Hamas to capture “a number of soldiers” for a prisoner exchange.
“However, the Zionist army unit collapsed,” he remarked in comments published by the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Centre, referencing the Israeli military.
According to the Gaza health ministry, over 64,000 Palestinians have died in Israel’s Gaza offensive. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and captured another 250 on October 7, 2023, based on Israeli reports.
Hayya has claimed the attack successfully brought global attention back to the Palestinian issue.
He has led Hamas delegations in mediated talks with Israel to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire, aiming to exchange Israelis abducted by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
Hayya has also undertaken significant political missions for Hamas. In 2022, he headed a Hamas delegation to Damascus to restore relations with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, after a decade-long rift when the group supported the uprising against Assad.
This division had strained a regional alliance constructed by Iran to counter Israel and the United States.
