Key takeaways from Khalil al-Hayya’s first speech as Hamas leader

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Khalil al-Hayya, newly chosen to lead Hamas’s political bureau, used his first televised address in the role to set out priorities including rebuilding Gaza, easing conditions for Palestinians there, seeking the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and pursuing a unified Palestinian state. The speech was broadcast Wednesday on Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV, two days after Hamas’s General Shura Council selected him following a run-off against former political chief Khaled Meshaal.

According to Al Jazeera, al-Hayya said Hamas would continue to seek a Palestinian state including Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital — a position the group formally outlined in a revised 2017 policy document. He addressed Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and framed those areas as central to the movement’s political aims.

On Gaza, al-Hayya pledged that Hamas would oppose efforts to displace Palestinians from the territory and would work toward reconstruction and improved living conditions. He also called for a full halt to Israeli military action in Gaza and said Hamas would work to free prisoners. Al Jazeera reported that he thanked mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, while not naming the United States, and urged countries involved in negotiations to pressure Israel to implement terms of a US-backed ceasefire agreed in October 2025.

Al-Hayya replaces Yahya Sinwar, who Al Jazeera says was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza in 2024. Until this week’s appointment, Hamas had been led by a five-member council that included al-Hayya.