The Hamas temporary committee is a five-person ruling committee that was formed by
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
following the
assassination of Ismail Haniyeh on 31 July 2024 to facilitate decision-making given the difficulty of communicating with the newly appointed chairman,
Yahya Sinwar, who was based in the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. The committee is based in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
,
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
and is tasked with making strategic decisions and governing Hamas during the
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
and "exceptional circumstances". It is made up of five members, including
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal (, ; born 28 May 1956) is a Palestinian politician who served as the second chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from 1996 until May 2017, when he was succeeded by Ismail Haniyeh. He has also covered duties as the acting lea ...
,
Khalil al-Hayya,
Zaher Jabarin, who represent the
Palestinian diaspora
The Palestinian diaspora (, ''al-shatat al-filastini''), part of the wider Arab diaspora, are Palestinian people living outside the region of Palestine and Israel. There are about 6.1 million members of the Palestinian Diaspora, most of whom live ...
, the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
and the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, respectively, as well as chairman of the
Shura Council
In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...
Muhammad Ismail Darwish, and an unnamed official who serves as secretary of the
Political Bureau.
Following the
killing of Yahya Sinwar in
Rafah
Rafah ( ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Rafah Governorate. It is located south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. Due to the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza C ...
on 16 October, the committee initially discussed the possibility of appointing a single successor, but eventually opted to rule through the committee until the scheduled Hamas leadership elections in March 2025.
On 24 October, Hamas confirmed that it is discussing a successor to Yahya Sinwar and that it will announce their name once the selection process is complete.
Members
See also
*
List of leaders of Hamas
The chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau (), also known as the chairman of the Hamas Shura Council () from 1987 until 2004, is the overall and de facto leader of Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political and mi ...
References
{{Hamas
2024 establishments in Palestine
Palestine governments
Provisional governments
Temporary committee