Who is Khalil Haya, the Hamas leader targeted by Israel?

SadaNews - Khalil Haya, a senior leader in the Hamas movement who was targeted by Israel in Qatar today (Tuesday), has become a central figure in the leadership of Hamas since the assassination of Ismail Haniya and Yahya Sinwar last year.

Israeli officials told Reuters that the attack targeted senior Hamas leaders, including Haya, the head of the political bureau in Gaza and chief negotiator. Two sources from Hamas told Reuters that the movement's delegation in ceasefire negotiations in Doha escaped the attack.

Haya, who has played a pivotal role in the ceasefire negotiations during the ongoing war for nearly two years, is widely regarded as the most influential figure for the movement abroad since Haniya was assassinated by Israel in Iran in July 2024.

He is a member of a five-member leadership council that has been leading Hamas since Israel killed Sinwar in October last year in Gaza.

Multiple Israeli Arrests

Haya hails from Gaza and has lost several relatives, including his eldest son, in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

He is seen as having good relations with Iran, which is an important source of arms and funding for Hamas.

Haya has been closely involved in the movement's efforts to mediate several truce agreements with Israel, playing a key role in ending the 2014 conflict and again in attempts to end the current Gaza war.

Born in Gaza in 1960, he has been a member of Hamas since its founding in 1987. In the early 1980s, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Hamas emerged, alongside Haniya and Sinwar, according to sources in Hamas.

In Gaza, he has been arrested by Israel several times.

In 2007, an Israeli airstrike hit his family's home in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, resulting in the martyrdom of several of his relatives.

During the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel, the home of Osama, Haya's eldest son, was bombed, resulting in the martyrdom of him, his wife, and three of their children.

Haya was not present during the current war, as he left Gaza several years ago, where he held the position of official responsible for relations with the Arab and Islamic worlds in Hamas, and he has been based in Qatar to perform this role.

Haya accompanied Haniya to Tehran during his visit last July, during which Haniya was assassinated.

'Limited Operation'

Haya was quoted as saying that the attacks on October 7, which ignited the Gaza war, were intended to be a limited operation conducted by Hamas to capture 'a number of soldiers' for exchange with Palestinian prisoners.

He stated in comments published by the Palestinian Media Center, linked to Hamas: 'The Gaza division in the Zionist army has completely collapsed,' referring to the Israeli army.

Gunmen led by Hamas killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli statistics. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been martyred in the Israeli assault on Gaza since then, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Haya stated that the attack revived 'the Palestinian cause worldwide.'

Haya has led Hamas delegations in negotiations with Israel in an attempt to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza that includes exchanging Israelis kidnapped by Hamas with Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

He has also taken on other political roles within the Hamas movement. In 2022, he led a Hamas delegation to Damascus to restore relations with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which had been severed a decade ago when the movement supported the uprising against Assad.

This position led to tensions in the regional alliance that Iran has built to confront Israel and the United States.