Hamas has a complicated and fragmented leadership structure. The militant components of the group have become more powerful in comparison to the political ones in recent years, in part due to Iranian influence.
Hamas’ unprecedented and deadly incursion in southern Israel on Oct. 7 brought the group to new levels of prominence in the region and internationally. Hamas’ leadership structure amid the ongoing war with Israel in the Gaza Strip is complex, but a closer look reveals who is in charge of what.
Hamas’ organizational structure is divided into the military wing — Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades — and the political wing, known as the political bureau. The latter makes political decisions and has no authority over the military wing. The Shura Council oversees the work of the political and military wings. Hamas’ presence is further divided geographically into apparatuses in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Israeli prisons and abroad, such as Lebanon.
Mohammed Deif
Day-to-day military decisions are made by the military wing’s general military council. Mohammed Deif is the overall leader of the brigades and believed to be the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks. There are no public photos of Deif, he is secretive and only does audio recordings on occasion. One such recording was released at the start of the recent attack on Israel. Deif has survived at least five assassination attempts by Israel.
However, the military wing’s precise leadership is fragmented and not publicized. Matthew Levitt, the Fromer-Wexler fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Hamas is purposefully secretive about who is in charge.
“They do not publicize the leadership and structure exactly of the militant components. Lots of names fly around. They do this for obvious reasons. It’s operational security,” Levitt told Al-Monitor.
Marwan Issa
Another important figure in Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is Marwan Issa, widely reported to be Deif’s second-in-command.
Ismail Haniyeh
The Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh formally heads Hamas’ political bureau. The bureau handles Hamas’ negotiations, including on cease-fires, hostages and prisoners. The bureau is responsible for contact with officials from Iran, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt. However, it cannot call shots on its own. The Shura Council sets parameters as agreed upon with the military wing, with the latter having more influence, according to Hamas sources familiar with the matter.
Osama Hamdan
There are several other prominent figures in the political bureau. Osama Hamdan is a member of the bureau for Arab and Islamic relations. He is based in Lebanon.
Khalil al-Hayya
Khalil al-Hayya is head of Arab relations. In October of last year, he led a Hamas delegation to Syria. Hayya met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and formally restored relations with the Syrian government during the trip, Agence France-Presse reported at the time.
Mohammed Nasr
Mohammed Nasr is another leader in the political bureau. Agence France-Presse (AFP) described him in 2009 as a senior official who took part in negotiations with Israel about a truce during the fighting that year.
Yahya Sinwar
Yahya Sinwar is Hamas’ leader in Gaza. A graphic released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Oct. 17 showed Haniyeh as Hamas’ political leader, Deif as head of the armed wing, and Sinwar as Gaza chief. Though Haniyeh is often considered the overall leader, Sinwar has considerable influence because he is actually in the Gaza Strip, according to Levitt.
“By virtue of being on the ground in Gaza, not being far away from where the militant leadership is, that gives him a lot of power and sway,” Levitt said.
Saleh al-Arouri
Saleh al-Arouri is deputy political bureau leader and West Bank political bureau leader. He played a role in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and went on Al Jazeera that day to report that the group had taken Israelis hostage.
Moussa Abu Marzouk
Moussa Abu Marzouk is Hamas’ head of international relations. Marzouk led a Hamas delegation to Russia on Thursday, as well as in May of last year.
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Mahmoud al-Zahar is another prominent member of the political bureau. He spoke to Al-Monitor in August of last year to deny a rift between Hamas and Islamic Jihad. His remarks followed the conflict between Islamic Jihad and Israel that month.
Khaled Meshaal
Khaled Meshaal is Haniyeh’s predecessor. He currently has an informal role in Hamas, according to Levitt. He is based in Qatar.
Musa Muhammad Salim Dudin
Levitt also identified Musa Muhammad Salim Dudin as an important leader within Hamas. The US Treasury Department sanctioned Dudin along with other Hamas members on Oct. 18, describing him as responsible for negotiations over Hamas’ imprisoned members.
Killed in action
The Israeli military has announced a few killings of Hamas leaders recently. On Oct. 14, the IDF said its air force killed Ali Qadi, describing him as the commander of an elite unit and leader of one of the operations during Hamas’ incursion into southern Israel. The IDF also announced the killing of Murad Abu Murad, saying he was head of Hamas’ aerial system.
There is little open source material on either Qadi or Murad. The way the IDF described Murad indicates he “likely” ran Hamas’ drone operations, according to a report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
On Oct. 17, the IDF announced it killed senior Hamas member Ayman Nofal in an airstrike. In this case, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades confirmed the death. The Hamas-affiliated Safa news agency reported that Nofal was part of the group’s general military council and led its central brigade in the Gaza Strip.
Two days later, Hamas announced that Jamila al-Shantee was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Shantee was elected to the political bureau in 2021, becoming the first woman to serve in the bureau. She previously served in the Palestinian Authority’s parliament in 2006-7, according to AFP.
On Oct. 23, the IDF said its fighter jets killed Ibrahim Al-Saher. The IDF said Saher headed the anti-tank missile division for Hamas’ northern brigade in Gaza.
On Thursday, the IDF said it killed Shadi Barud in an airstrike, describing him as the deputy head of Hamas’ intelligence directorate.
Military wing dominates
In recent years, Hamas’ military wing has come to have more influence than the political bureau — a development that has its roots in Hamas’ response to the Syrian civil war. Hamas left its offices in Damascus in 2011 during the start of the popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The move damaged Hamas’ relations with Iran and Hezbollah — both key backers of Assad. In 2017, Hamas began rehabilitating its relations with Tehran, and then restored relations with Damascus last year.
Hamas’ military wing has continuously sought good relations with Iran, while the political bureau wanted a stance on Syria that was more supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood and, as a result, the protesters. The military wing ultimately convinced the bureau that the main goal is fighting Israel, and that anything that helps toward that goal, including support from the Islamic Republic, should be given priority consideration, according to Hamas sources.
According to Levitt, Meshaal tried to pull away from Iran and toward fellow Sunni Muslims in the Gulf, but failed, and Hamas’ military wing grew stronger during the break in relations with Syria.
“Iran during that break cut back a significant amount of funding to the political wing, but didn’t cut back very much from the military wing, and this also had the effect of strengthening and empowering the militants,” he said.
The position of militants and hard-liners within Hamas was further strengthened by internal realizations within the group, according to Levitt. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007 and has been governing the enclave ever since. Hamas, especially hard-liners within the organization, began to realize that governing Gaza “sidetracked” the group from its ultimate goal of destroying Israel and establishing an Islamic state in historic Palestine, he said.
“All of this is happening as the group is realizing — and certainly the hard-liners are realizing — the governance project … ultimately seems to be preventing [Hamas] from pursuing [its] overall goal,” Levitt concluded.