Khalil al-Hayya

Khalil Ismail Ibrahim al-Hayya, known as Abu Osama, is one of the senior leaders of the Hamas movement. He previously served as deputy head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, as the representative of Gaza City in the Legislative Council, and as head of the organization’s Information Office. He was born in the Gaza Strip in 1960. In the early 1980s, while studying at the Islamic University, he was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and became involved in its activities. In 1983, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Islamic University of Gaza, where he also worked as a lecturer. In 1986, he served as deputy chairman of the university’s student council and joined Hamas during the First Intifada. He rose through Hamas’s organizational ranks and was eventually elected to its Political Bureau and to the Legislative Council representing Hamas in the 2006 elections. During the campaign, he led the Hamas parliamentary bloc and also headed its Information Office. In 2021, he was appointed deputy to the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar. In October 2024, following the death of Yahya Sinwar, he was appointed leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, despite living outside the territory. In 2025, he was the main target in an Israeli Air Force strike in Qatar aimed at assassinating the Hamas leadership, but he survived. He led the Hamas delegation during the negotiations and signed the agreement for the release of the living hostages from the Gaza Strip in exchange for ending the war and freeing thousands of Palestinian prisoners.