Hamas chooses new political leader

Yahya Sinwar (L) the new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and senior political leaders of the Islamist movement Khalil al-Haya (C) Ismail Haniyeh (R)
(Image credit: Said Khatib/Getty Images)

Hamas on Saturday elected Ismail Haniyeh as its new political leader, replacing Khaled Meshaal, who reached his two-term limit.

Unlike Meshaal, who is exiled in Qatar, Haniyeh lives in the Gaza Strip. The former Hamas prime minister is considered a pragmatist and comes to office shortly after the Palestinian organization debuted a more moderate stance toward Israel, dropping its demand for Israel's destruction (without recognizing the country's right to exist) and cutting ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Haniyeh will likely be "more flexible on different aspects, maybe foremost is the reconciliation," said political analyst Hani Habib, who lives in Gaza, but will probably not effect a major transformation of Israeli-Palestinian relations. Hamas maintains a militant wing and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. The Israeli government did not immediately comment on the election.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.