After surviving an Israeli airstrike in Qatar last month, Khalil Al-Hayya, a high-ranking Hamas official, is once again at the center of efforts to end the fighting in Gaza. On Monday, Al-Hayya was in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, leading the Hamas delegation in indirect talks with Israel as part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace proposal to end the war in Gaza.
The negotiations will likely center on a possible swap of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails. This is a big part of Trump’s proposal.
What is Khalil Al-Hayya?
Khalil Al-Hayya is a long-time member of Hamas; he joined the party when it first started in 1987. Over the years, he has become known as one of the organization’s most important political leaders. He has kept close links with Iran, which is a key ally that gives Hamas money and weapons.
Hayya’s strength has cost him a lot in his personal life. He lost his son in the most recent Israeli attack on Doha and two other sons in past wars. Israel fired missiles against key Hamas officials in Qatar in September. One of these officials was Al-Hayya. His son, his chief of staff, and numerous Qatari security men were killed, but he lived.
A Major Player in Hamas Leadership
Hayya became the most influential Hamas commander outside of Israel after Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli attack in Iran in July 2024. He is currently part of a five-member leadership council in Qatar that runs Hamas’s operations around the world. This happened after Yahya Sinwar, the architect behind the October 2023 attacks, was killed.
Hayya joined the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sunni Islamist group that started Hamas, in the early 1980s. Israel has arrested him multiple times since then because of his political work in Gaza.
His family has been devastated several times by Israeli airstrikes. In 2007, an Israeli air assault damaged his home in Gaza City, killing several family members. In 2014, another strike murdered his oldest son Osama, along with Osama’s wife and three children.
Role in Talks for a Ceasefire and in International Relations
Hayya moved from Gaza to Qatar and became an important diplomatic link for Hamas, keeping in touch with important Arab and Islamic countries. He led a Hamas group to Damascus in 2022, which helped rebuild ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after years of being apart.
Hayya was also part of the group that went with Haniyeh to Tehran earlier this year. That trip ended in sorrow when Haniyeh was killed by an Israeli attack.
He has now assumed the lead in efforts to end the fighting in Gaza, working with international mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and the US to reach an agreement.
The Human Cost of the Gaza War: A Background
Israeli sources say that Hamas-led militants killed almost 1,200 individuals and took 251 others hostage during the attacks on October 7, 2023. The health ministry in Gaza says that Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in response.
Hayya has indicated before that the October 7 operation was meant to be a small mission “to capture several soldiers” for a prisoner exchange. This assertion has sparked a lot of discussion across the world concerning Hamas’s goals and Israel’s military response.