Muhammad Ismail Darwish

Mohammad Ismail Darwish, known as Abu Omar Hassan, is one of the senior leaders of the Hamas movement. He has served since October 2023 as chairman of the organization’s Shura Council, and since 2024 as chairman of the movement’s joint leadership council, which includes five members. He was born in Lebanon, in the Palestinian refugee camp Tel al-Zaatar, located northeast of Beirut. He later moved to live in Kuwait, where he worked in the field of education for several years. In 2011, he relocated to Doha, the capital of Qatar. Over the years, he helped establish the movement’s extensive fundraising network and advanced within the organization as a behind-the-scenes figure whose name was not known to the general public. After the October 7 attack and the killing of many Hamas leaders, he began to stand out more in the public arena, and his name was mentioned as a possible candidate to lead the movement.