Hamas announced that its political institutions would meet shortly to choose a new political leader after the death of Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in Tehran in a strike blamed on Israel.
The context of this succession, which comes in the midst of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered on October 7 by Israel in retaliation for the bloody attack by Hamas on Israeli soil the same day, risks influencing the future of Hamas more than the choice of the personality to succeed Ismail Haniyeh, who had held his post since 2017.
Despite the emergence of profiles considered moderate, Hamas members remain attached to an uncompromising approach to the struggle for the existence of a Palestinian state, including by arms.
After the assassination of its leader, it would be “politically irrational” to suggest that his successor is inclined to be flexible towards Israel, observes Tahani Mustafa of the International Crisis Group (ICG).
“Relations with Arab and Islamic countries” will also be taken into account, a source within the movement told AFP.
Here are some potential officials.
Khalil al-Haya
Deputy head of Hamas’ regional political bureau in Gaza, Khalil al-Haya is known to be close to Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of being one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack, and the head of Hamas in Gaza.
In 2006, Khalil al-Haya led the Hamas parliamentary bloc, which had just emerged victorious from legislative elections that degenerated into armed clashes with the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A fervent supporter of the armed struggle, he lost several members of his family during Israeli military operations, notably in 2007 on his house in the northern Gaza Strip.
Moussa Abou Marzouk
Moussa Abou Marzouk, a senior member of the political bureau, is seen as similar to Haniyeh in his pragmatic approach to negotiations. For example, he has spoken out in favor of a “long-term ceasefire” with Israel, and he favors accepting the Palestinian borders drawn after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which remains somewhat controversial within the movement.
In the 1990s, he lived in the United States, where he was arrested on charges of raising funds for Hamas’s armed wing. He then lived in exile, including in Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar.
His name has often been floated as a candidate for the succession of one or another Hamas leader, without success.
Zaher Jabareen
The movement’s top treasurer, he has long been in charge of Hamas’ finances. Zaher Jabareen was close to Haniyeh and sometimes even described as one of his right-hand men.
Imprisoned in Israeli prisons, he was released in 2011 as part of an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held hostage for five years.
Close to Turkey, where he lived, Mr. Jabareen notably recruited people for large-scale money laundering activities, two of whom were arrested in Israel in 2018.
He also participated in deadly operations carried out by the armed wing of Hamas.
Khaled Mechaal
Haniyeh’s predecessor, he has lived in exile since 1967, in Jordan, Qatar, Syria and other countries.
He was propelled to the head of the movement after Israel eliminated Hamas’ founder, Ahmed Yassin, and then his successor in the Palestinian territories, Abdelaziz Al-Rantissi.
Mr Meshaal himself survived an assassination attempt in 1997 in Amman by agents of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service.
While living in Syria, he criticized the Syrian regime for its violent repression of anti-government protests, which caused friction with Iran, a strategic ally of Syria and a major supporter of Hamas.
Yahya Sinouar
Elected in February 2017 as head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinouar is among the supporters of a hard line.
The 61-year-old ascetic man spent 23 years in Israeli prisons before being released in a 2011 prisoner exchange.
Born in Khan Younis, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip, he joined Hamas when it was founded in 1987, the year of the first Intifada (uprising).
He later founded Majd, Hamas’ internal security service.
A former elite commander in the al-Qassam Brigades and the alleged mastermind of the October 7 attack, he is wanted by Israel and placed on the American list of “international terrorists.”
Mr Sinouar keeps his travels very secret. He has not appeared in public since October 7.