New head will face decisions crucial to movement’s future, such as how far to cooperate with Trump’s Gaza plan
Hamas has reportedly begun holding leadership elections among its members at a time when the militant Palestinian movement faces imminent decisions which will be critical to its own continued existence and the potential for peace in Gaza.
According to the BBC and press reports in the Gulf, Hamas members in Gaza have already voted. Those in the West Bank, in Israeli prisons and the diaspora are also expected to cast ballots for delegates to the movement’s 50-member general Shura council, which ultimately chooses its politburo and a new interim leader. The process could last weeks.
The new leader will have to decide how far to cooperate with a US-sponsored peace plan, whether to disarm and how much of its arsenal to give up, what to demand in return from Israel in terms of withdrawal from the territory and whether to press for inclusion in a new Gaza government or fade into the political background.
Much of the Hamas leadership has been killed by Israel in a military campaign that also razed much of Gaza and killed more than 75,000 Palestinians over 28 months.
