Hamas this month completed a process of internal elections for the organization’s leadership. There were no surprises this time: Khaled Meshal was elected to lead the Hamas Political Bureau and became its top leader. Another representative of the current leadership who lives abroad, Khalil al-Hayya – who like Meshal resides in Qatar – was elected head of the organization in the Gaza Strip. Meshal, who was born in the West Bank, has lived in exile since the 1990s; al-Hayya left the Strip a few months before the October 7 massacre, and hasn’t returned since.
