Hamas’s newly appointed leader Khalil al-Hayya delivered a television address in the Arabic language on Wednesday in which he vowed to continue in the path established by his predecessors, including Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, the architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel’s south.
Al-Hayya said he is assuming the role with a “heavy burden” in a “delicate and sensitive stage in the history of our national cause,” according to Al Jazeera.
“The first thing we affirm is that we will walk the same path, carrying the banner high and fluttering until it is raised over Al-Aqsa [in Jerusalem] and the lands of a free and defiant Palestine, for which the free and sincere people from all factions of our people and its righteous sons have struggled,” he was quoted as saying.
He said that Hamas’s first priority is to end the Israel Defence Forces’ “occupation” in the Gaza Strip and achieve its full withdrawal, calling to move onto the next stage in the ceasefire agreement.
The next priority is to reconstruct the Strip, “an inherent right of our people,” which must not be conditioned on making political concessions, al-Hayya continued.
He moreover called on the Palestinian factions (i.e., terrorist groups) to unite and rebuild together “national institutions … on democratic foundations,” inviting the PLO to participate in political decision-making.
Before Oct. 7, al-Hayya served as deputy to Sinwar. He has maintained close ties with Tehran and was among the top Hamas officials who met with Iran’s now-slain supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Al-Hayya left the Gaza Strip before the Oct. 7 onslaught and has since mostly been based in Qatar, though he has also made visits to Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. He has since headed Hamas’s negotiating team in ceasefire talks with the United States.
The Hamas-led invasion into the northwestern Negev left roughly 1,200 people murdered and 251 more kidnapped into Gaza.