They bombed his home, killed his sons, hunted him abroad; now Khalil al-Hayya leads Hamas’ peace push

After top leaders’ deaths, Hayya emerges as Hamas’ new power player abroad, now fronting talks on a US-backed truce in Sharm el-Sheikh

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official who survived an Israeli strike in Qatar last month, is back at the centre of diplomacy, this time in Egypt, leading indirect negotiations with Israel over a peace plan pushed by US President Donald Trump to end the Gaza war.

Hayya, 64, has become the most powerful Hamas leader still standing after the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. Once known for his quiet pragmatism, he is now fronting the militant group’s international political strategy from Doha.

From Gaza’s frontlines to Qatar’s political hub

A veteran of Hamas since its founding in 1987, Hayya has spent decades straddling politics and war. A native of Gaza’s Shejaia district, he has lost multiple family members in Israeli airstrikes, his son Hamza in 2008, and another son, Osama, along with Osama’s wife and three children during the 2014 war.

In Gaza, Hayya was detained several times by Israeli forces. When he moved abroad, he became Hamas’ de facto foreign minister, liaising with Iran, mediating with Egypt, and keeping open lines to Syria even after relations soured during the Syrian civil war.

In 2022, he led a delegation to Damascus to mend ties with President Bashar al-Assad, a move widely seen as Iran’s effort to reknit its regional bloc after years of strain.

Surviving the Doha raid and stepping into Haniyeh’s shadow

Hayya’s growing influence crystallised after Israel’s September 9 attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar, which killed six but spared the group’s top command. That strike, seen as an attempt to decapitate Hamas’ political wing, only elevated Hayya further.

Since Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran in July 2024, Hayya has emerged as the group’s most influential figure abroad, effectively leading the five-man council that runs Hamas’ external operations from Doha.

The Sharm el-Sheikh peace push: Trump’s 20-point plan

Talks began Monday in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh between Israeli negotiators, led by Ron Dermer, and a Hamas delegation headed by Hayya. The meeting marks the first serious step toward implementing Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan, which aims to end nearly two years of war.

An Egyptian official confirmed that the discussions are being held indirectly, with US and Egyptian mediators shuttling between the delegations. The first phase, according to Hamas, focuses on a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The Al-Ahram newspaper reported that US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are also expected to join the talks.

The stakes: ceasefire, disarmament, and Gaza’s future

Trump’s plan, presented last week, outlines a multi-stage roadmap, starting with a ceasefire, followed by disarmament of Hamas, and the eventual creation of a transitional administration for Gaza. Israel has insisted that disarmament is non-negotiable, while Hamas has said it is open to “discussions on mechanisms,” but not unilateral surrender.

Despite Trump’s call for a halt in Israeli airstrikes, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported at least 19 deaths in the past 24 hours. The humanitarian situation remains dire: over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in October 2023, while the October 7 Hamas attacks had left 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken hostage.

Under the current proposal, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive, within three days in exchange for Israel’s phased troop pullout and prisoner releases.

A complex endgame

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Sharm el-Sheikh process “will be limited to a few days,” though Hamas officials warn it could take longer to locate the bodies of hostages buried under the rubble.

What this really means is that even if Trump’s peace plan gains traction, its implementation will face immense logistical and political hurdles, from disarmament verification to Gaza’s post-war governance.

But for now, the sight of Khalil al-Hayya, once a fugitive in Gaza, now sitting at the negotiation table, signals a rare opening in one of the world’s most entrenched conflicts.

(With inputs from Reuters)