Khalil al-Hayya (left) and Khaled Meshaal are the main contenders to lead the group
Hamas recently completed the formation of a new Shura Council, a consultative body largely composed of religious scholars, as well as a new political bureau, the official said.
"The movement has completed its internal elections in the three regions and has reached the final stage of selecting the head of the political bureau," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.
He added that the race for the group's leadership is now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya.
A second Hamas source confirmed the development.
Since October 2023, when Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began, Tel Aviv has assassinated several of the movement’s leaders and killed more than 72,000 Palestinians — many of them women and children.
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that entered its second phase last month, Israel has continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 600 Palestinians, while also restricting the entry of humanitarian aid.
Members of the council are elected every four years by representatives from Hamas's three branches: the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and the movement's external leadership.
Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails are also eligible to vote.
The council subsequently elects the political bureau, which in turn selects the head of the movement.
'Renew internal legitimacy'
A third Hamas source said the new leader will serve for only "one year... a transitional period".
Thousands of Hamas members voted to choose the council and the political bureau, the source added.
"The primary goal of the process was to renew internal legitimacy and fill leadership vacancies," the source added.
Both Meshaal and Hayya have years of experience within the movement.
Hayya, 65, a Gaza native and Hamas's chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, has held senior roles since at least 2006.
Meshaal, who led the political bureau from 2004 to 2017, has never lived in Gaza. He was born in the West Bank in 1956.
He joined Hamas in Kuwait and later lived in Jordan, Syria and Qatar.
He currently heads the movement's diaspora office.
Last month, a Hamas source told AFP that Hayya enjoys backing from the group's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassem Brigades.
After Israel killed former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, the group chose its then-Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar as his successor.
He too was killed by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, three months after Haniyeh's assassination.
Hamas then opted for an interim five-member leadership committee based in Qatar, postponing the appointment of a single leader until elections, given the risk of the new chief being targeted by Israel.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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