Ismail Haniyeh assassinated... Who will be Hamas's new Political Bureau Chief? Two names come to mind

Following the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on the night of July 31, the question of who will become Hamas's new political leader continues to be a subject of curiosity.

In a report citing Hamas officials and analysts, the Reuters news agency wrote that Haniyeh's successor could be his deputy, Khaled Meshaal, who, like him, lives in exile in Qatar.

Khaled Meshaal's global recognition came following a failed assassination attempt by Israel. In 1997, Israeli agents attempted to inject poison into Meshaal outside his office in Amman, the capital of Jordan, and it was stated that the assassination order had been given by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In response to the assassination attempt against Meshaal, the then-King Hussein of Jordan stated that if the antidote were not provided, the perpetrators of the assassination attempt would be executed and the Israel-Jordan peace treaty would be terminated.

Following this, Israel both provided the antidote and agreed to release Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

However, seven years later, Israel killed Yassin in Gaza.

According to Hamas sources cited by Reuters, Khaled Meshaal is expected to be elected as the new head of Hamas's Political Bureau, replacing Ismail Haniyeh.

Meanwhile, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official based in Qatar who leads the Hamas delegation in indirect negotiations with Israel mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, is also emerging as a potential successor to Haniyeh.

According to Reuters' assessment of the matter, al-Hayya is considered 'one of the favorites of Iran and its allies in the region.' Relations between Mashaal and Iran had become strained after Mashaal supported the uprising and protests against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2011.

Khaled Meshaal, who spent most of his life outside Palestinian territories, was born near the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, which is currently under Israeli occupation.

He later moved to Kuwait with his family. Joining the Muslim Brotherhood at the age of 15, Meshaal also played a role in the founding process of Hamas in the 1980s.

Following an assassination attempt against him in 1997, Meshaal was sent to Qatar by Jordan, which closed the Hamas office in Amman.

Meshaal moved to Syria in 2001. Having resided in the capital Damascus between 2004 and January 2012, Meshaal left Syria with the onset of the civil war and began staying in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and Cairo, the capital of Egypt.

Assassinated Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh

Assassinated Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh