Hamas to be led by Doha-based committee, no chief to succeed Yahya Sinwar: Report

In 2017, Yahya Sinwar was named the Hamas chief in Gaza. He became the overall leader of the Palestinian militant group after Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas's Doha-based political wing, was assassinated in July this year.

In Short

• Committee to take strategic decisions regarding Israel-Hamas war,
• Comprises representatives for Gaza, the West Bank, and Palestinians abroad
• Hamas leadership avoids appointing Sinwar's successor until 2025 elections

A five-member Hamas committee based in Doha, which was formed in August following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh, will "take over leadership" of the Palestinian militant group, a media report citing sources said.

Hamas decided to appoint the committee instead of choosing a single leader to succeed Yahya Sinwar, the group's former chief who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza last week, a source told AFP.

In 2017, Sinwar was named the Hamas chief in Gaza. The mastermind of the October 2023 Hamas attack against Israel, he became the group's overall leader after Haniyeh's death.

Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for killing Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, but there has been no comment or confirmation from the Jewish nation.

The Hamas leadership did not want to appoint anyone to succeed the former chief, at least until the group's next elections scheduled to be held in March 2025 “if conditions permit", the source said.

The committee, which also took important decisions in the wake of Sinwar going into hiding before his death, comprises representatives Khalil al-Haya for Gaza, Zaher Jabarin for the West Bank, and Khaled Mashaal for Palestinians abroad.

It also includes the head of Hamas’s Shura advisory council Mohammed Darwish and the secretary of the political bureau, who is never identified for security reasons, the source told AFP.

All the five members are currently based in Qatar.

The committee has been "tasked with governing the movement during the war and exceptional circumstances, as well as its future plans”, the source said, adding that it is also authorised to “make strategic decisions”.

Confirming Sinwar's death, Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said in a video statement on October 18 that the militant group was mourning the loss of its "great leader".

Hayya said the former chief's death would help strengthen the movement, adding his killing had set him among "the leaders and symbols of the movement who preceded him".

Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted, Sinwar had been out of the public eye, fuelling speculations that he was dead.

But several media reports, including one from the Washington Post, claimed he was alive and ordering "suicide bombings".