Protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, stand near a screen displaying senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya during a rally to show support to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

By a small margin, Hamas has voted in veteran member Khalil al-Hayya as its new leader.

While some in the media have portrayed al-Hayya as “moderate” and “pragmatic,” the truth is actually quite the opposite.

By electing al-Hayya as its leader, Hamas has signaled to both Israel and the Western world that it intends to continue the path of its former leader, Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 terrorist attacks.

Since the killing of Sinwar in October 2024, Hamas had been run by a leadership council made up of five veteran leaders, including al-Hayya.

The recent election for a new leader of the organization was reportedly a contest between al-Hayya and Khaled Meshaal, who had previously held the position until 2017.

According to analysts familiar with Hamas, the election represented a rift between two camps within the terrorist organization, with al-Hayya leading those who celebrated the October 7 attacks and believed in continuing the path laid out by Sinwar. Meshaal’s camp viewed the attacks as a strategic failure and wished to present a more “moderate” face to the public so as to renew the group’s ties with Arab nations.

This fissure between al-Hayya’s and Meshaal’s camps was only about the organization’s tactics, not about Hamas’ central aim of Israel’s ultimate destruction, a goal that continues to guide both camps.

Al-Hayya is the perfect person to represent Hamas’ continued dedication to Sinwar’s extremist and maximalist path.

Since 2017, he had been Sinwar’s deputy in leading Hamas in Gaza and was considered to be one of the few people that Sinwar felt that he could rely on.

Similar to Sinwar, al-Hayya is also close to the Iranian regime, even having briefed representatives of the Islamic Republic about the planned terrorist invasion of southern Israel in the leadup to October 7.

Since those attacks, al-Hayya has celebrated them as a “great act” and has advocated for endless conflict with Israel at the expense of responsibly ruling the Gaza Strip, saying that it’s not Hamas’ responsibility “to run Gaza and to bring it water and electricity and such.”

Aside from al-Hayya’s dedication to continuous war against Israel, he had also proven to be a stubborn negotiator during the indirect talks that Israel and Hamas held over two years of war, refusing to budge from his hardened positions.

With his commitment to continued conflict against Israel and his hardened negotiation tactics, al-Hayya’s ascension to the leadership of Hamas proves that the terrorist organization has no interest in disarming or moving away from its ultimate goal of destroying Israel, regardless of the price its own people will pay, in Gaza and elsewhere. This will make continued negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas much more difficult and make possibilities that Hamas will disarm, allowing the Strip to be rebuilt, more remote.

When the media and analysts look to blame Israel for the lack of progress in the Gaza Strip, it would behoove them to recall that Hamas has reaffirmed its path of continuous war and destruction by electing Khalil al-Hayya as its leader.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Chaim moved to Israel in 2018. He has a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science and History from York University as well as an MA in Israel Studies from the Rothberg International School at Hebrew University. Prior to joining HonestReporting, Chaim worked with a variety of Israel advocacy organizations in both Canada and Israel. This article was originally published at HonestReporting.