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Who Remains in Hamas’ Political Bureau after Numerous Killings?

From right to left: Rouhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and Khalil al-Hayya (Hamas-affiliated media)
From right to left: Rouhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and Khalil al-Hayya (Hamas-affiliated media)
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Who Remains in Hamas’ Political Bureau after Numerous Killings?

From right to left: Rouhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and Khalil al-Hayya (Hamas-affiliated media)
From right to left: Rouhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri, Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Meshaal, and Khalil al-Hayya (Hamas-affiliated media)

Israel has intensified assassinations targeting senior members of Hamas' political bureau in Gaza, posing a major challenge for the group to fill organizational gaps amid ongoing security pressures and relentless Israeli pursuit.

This week, Israel killed two prominent Hamas political leaders in Gaza—Salah al-Bardawil and Ismail Barhoum—bringing the total number of slain bureau members to five since the Israeli military resumed its bombardment of the enclave last Tuesday.

Before Bardawil and Barhoum were killed within 24 hours in an airstrike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, three other political bureau members—Mohammed al-Jamassi, Issam al-Da’alis, and Yasser Harb—were assassinated in separate attacks carried out simultaneously when Israel resumed its offensive on March 18.
Bardawil was part of Hamas' National Relations Office, while Barhoum oversaw financial affairs. Jamassi served in the legal department and held a general membership position. Da’alis, a Gaza-based member, initially led the economic department before managing governmental affairs. Harb was part of the Gaza office, responsible for organizational administration in the northern Gaza Strip.
High-Profile Assassinations
At the start of Israel’s military campaign following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, Israeli forces struggled to locate senior Hamas leaders. However, after several months, Israel launched a series of targeted assassinations, some occurring in rapid succession.
Among the most prominent figures killed was Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran in July 2024. His deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, was killed in Beirut in January of the same year.
Yahya Sinwar, who succeeded Haniyeh as Hamas’ overall leader after serving as the group’s political chief in Gaza, was killed during clashes with Israeli forces in Rafah’s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood on October 16, 2024. Israeli forces only identified him after his death.
Before the recent wave of killings, Israel had already targeted several high-ranking Hamas figures. Zakaria Abu Maamar and Jawad Abu Shamala were killed on October 10, 2023—just three days after Hamas' attack on Israeli towns near Gaza. Both died in an Israeli airstrike on a building in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Abu Maamar headed the National Relations Office within Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza and was also a member of the group's general bureau. Abu Shamala, a political bureau member in Gaza, handled security affairs.
On October 19, Israel assassinated Jamila Al-Shanti, a member of both the political bureau in Gaza and the general bureau, in an airstrike north of Gaza City. On the same day, Osama al-Muzaini, a Gaza-based political bureau member and head of the group’s Shura Council in the enclave, was killed when an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood.
In March 2024, Israel killed Marwan Issa, a senior Hamas political bureau member, in an airstrike targeting a tunnel in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Issa, who reportedly had cancer, was a key link between Hamas’ political and military wings, serving as deputy commander of the group’s armed branch, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
In August 2024, Israel assassinated Rouhi Mushtaha and Samih al-Sarraj, both members of Hamas' political bureau in Gaza, in an airstrike on a tunnel in the industrial zone south of Gaza City.
Hamas Political Bureau Structure
Hamas traditionally elects members to a general political bureau and separate regional bureaus for Gaza, the West Bank, and abroad. Some members serve in both their regional bureau and the general bureau, depending on the votes they receive.
In previous years, the general political bureau comprised 17 members, but this number increased to 24 during the last two election cycles.
Each region maintains at least 10 representatives, though the number can vary based on field conditions, particularly in the West Bank.
Following the recent assassinations, the remaining general political bureau members from Gaza include Khalil al-Hayya, Nizar Awadallah, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Ghazi Hamad, Fathi Hammad, and Suhail al-Hindi.
Gaza’s regional bureau still includes Ibrahim Sabra and Kamal Abu Aoun.
Among the remaining senior members of the Gaza-based political bureau, Hayya, Awadallah, Hamad, Hammad, and al-Hindi have been living outside Gaza since before the start of the Israeli war.
Other prominent figures in the general political bureau include Khaled Meshaal, Musa Abu Marzouk, Mohammad Nazzal, Izzat al-Rishq, Zaher Jabarin, Mahmoud Mardawi, and other unnamed individuals whose identities Hamas keeps confidential for security reasons.
The political bureau is the highest executive body within Hamas, responsible for making final decisions within the movement. Critical decisions are made by consensus between the political bureau and the Shura Council, a body composed of 50 members.

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Arab World

Report: Syrian President Has No Intention of Intervening in Lebanon

05 April 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa attends a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)
05 April 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa attends a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)
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Report: Syrian President Has No Intention of Intervening in Lebanon

05 April 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa attends a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)
05 April 2026, Syria, Damascus: Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa attends a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Ukrainian Presidency/dpa)

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told visitors that Damascus has no intention of intervening in Lebanon, two of them told AFP, days after US President Donald Trump suggested it might be willing to do so.

One of those present, requesting anonymity to speak freely, said that Sharaa told dozens of notables and dignitaries from the Damascus province that "what is being circulated about Syria entering Lebanon is nothing more than rumors".

The Syrian presidency announced on Thursday that Sharaa received the delegation at the presidential palace in a meeting that addressed service and development issues of concern to the province's residents.

The statement made no mention of Sharaa's remarks on Lebanon.

It came with Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah still trading blows in the country, despite a conditional ceasefire announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys earlier this month in Washington.

Hezbollah rejected the agreement, which makes no mention of Israel having to cease attacks or withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

Trump told US broadcaster NBC last week that Sharaa was willing to help against Hezbollah, which has been fighting a war with Israel since March 2 as part of the broader Middle East conflict.

"I'd like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical. And we can help them with that, or we can recommend Syria," he said.

"Syria's doing a very good job of cleaning up their act. They have a very good leader. They have a leader that's really done a good job in a short period of time. And he would love to help."

In a televised interview on Thursday, Syrian interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba aid that Damascus stands with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in "preserving Lebanon's security and the sovereignty of the Lebanese state".

"Coordination with our brother Lebanon is the cornerstone of any possible role that Syria can play in resolving Lebanese issues," he added.

Responding to Trump's words, Baba said that "the Syrian and Lebanese sides are best positioned to interpret these statements and agree on a formula that serves both countries within the framework of the common Arab vision".

Syria, which under the Assad family was a close ally of Hezbollah, dominated Lebanon for decades following a military intervention in the latter's 1975-1990 civil war, withdrawing only in 2005, making any new military involvement a fraught proposition.

Hezbollah fought alongside the Syrian government in that country's own civil war, making the new authorities in Damascus, which took over after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in 2024, deeply hostile to it.

Arab World

Vatican Envoy’s Aid Convoy Stopped by Israeli Forces in South Lebanon

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Marjeyoun, Lebanon, June 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Marjeyoun, Lebanon, June 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Vatican Envoy’s Aid Convoy Stopped by Israeli Forces in South Lebanon

Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Marjeyoun, Lebanon, June 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Marjeyoun, Lebanon, June 12, 2026. (Reuters)

An aid convoy organized by the Vatican envoy to Lebanon that was headed for Christian villages in the country's south was stopped by the Israeli military and forced to change course, a convoy member told AFP on Friday.

A number of Christian-majority villages near the border have been caught up in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah but many residents have refused to leave.

"While approaching the village of Debl on Thursday, we got face-to-face with several Israeli tanks" who stopped the convoy, a member of the convoy told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"There were several tank and machine gun shots towards rear positions that we could not identify... which caused panic," he added.

The person said it was not clear "whether they wanted to intimidate us or they were targeting Hezbollah positions".

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military and the Vatican did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The convoy, led by the Apostolic Nuncio Paolo Borgia, included 25 trucks and several cars transporting residents wanting to return home.

The route was coordinated with UN peacekeepers through an international committee created to monitor a ceasefire that sought to end the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

After being halted for over an hour, the convoy took another longer route to reach their destination after 12 hours, the member said.

Vincent Gelot, head of Catholic organization Oeuvre d'Orient which regularly takes part in aid convoys, told AFP that the people who chose to remain in their villages "are completely isolated from the rest of the country".

"They are deprived of resources because most of them are farmers. They do not have access to their fields."

The villages are surrounded by areas and localities Israel has warned to evacuate, with Gelot saying they are "threatened to disappear".

On Tuesday, the association of Christian border villages in southern Lebanon urged authorities to "immediately open safe humanitarian and medical corridors to ensure the access of citizens, aid and medical and relief teams to the affected and isolated villages".

On June 2, an Israeli drone strike killed a student alongside her father and brother as she was returning to her border village after sitting for university exams in Beirut.

Arab World

Video of Visually Impaired Palestinian Boy Draws Global Attention

Ayoub holding his damaged glasses on 2 June. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Ayoub holding his damaged glasses on 2 June. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
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Video of Visually Impaired Palestinian Boy Draws Global Attention

Ayoub holding his damaged glasses on 2 June. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Ayoub holding his damaged glasses on 2 June. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A video of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza who suffers from a severe visual impairment crying over his shattered glasses has drawn widespread attention across social and international media, Britain’s the Guardian reported on Thursday.

The footage of Ayoub Junaid has shone a light on the plight of the many visually impaired children in Gaza who, because of Israel’s blockade and the devastation caused by the war, have been unable to access eye examinations, corrective lenses or specialist ophthalmic surgery.

After the clip was viewed by tens of millions of people, Ayoub received a new pair of glasses. This good news, however, does not solve the underlying problem, as he urgently needs surgery.

Ayoub’s mother, Eman Junaid, 30, displaced in the Gaza City port area, tells the Guardian her son’s problem began when he was two.

“Ayoub suffers from very severe nearsightedness after having a fever illness,” she says. A doctor told Junaid that Ayoub’s vision would gradually improve as he got older, but the opposite happened – the prescription he required increased and the lenses he now needs are not available in Gaza.

“We were preparing to travel for treatment, but the war started and everything stopped,” she adds.

Ayoub rarely leaves his tent, Junaid says. When he wants to play with his siblings or other children, he clings tightly to his glasses and moves with extreme caution. He does not run, jump or move freely. The doctors warned the family not to let him engage in strenuous activities because any fall or blow could cause further damage to his retinas.

Ayoub used to ask his mother why he was different from other children. He often asks her: “Why don’t the other children wear glasses like me? Why can’t I move like them? Why can’t I go to school like them?”

“At the end of April, while walking with a family member along a road strewn with rubble, he fell and struck his face on the ground, breaking the glasses,” his mother says. “He burst into tears, rolled on the ground and desperately tried to piece them back together. For Ayoub, those glasses were everything. Even with them, he cannot see clearly and often has to hold objects just inches from his face. But without them, he can barely move around at all.”

His family says the time Ayoub spent without glasses was particularly distressing. For three or four days, he rarely left a corner of the tent and was unable to move around without assistance. When he tried to walk on his own, he would crouch close to the ground, bringing his eyes near the floor in an effort to make out his surroundings.

Relatives said they repeatedly tried to repair his glasses, but the damaged lenses could not be fixed.

“The video I shared was filmed after we reached the tent,” his mother says. “In the street, he was crying even more and saying he wanted to fix his glasses because he could not see without them. After the video spread, donors helped us and we were able to get a new pair of glasses, but it is still not the correct prescription he needs.”

According to his family, Ayoub’s emotional state has shown signs of improvement. In recent days, he has appeared more willing to interact with visitors and those offering support. While the change remains modest, his family say it has brought them a sense of relief and hope.

Health officials in Gaza say the war has devastated eye care services, leaving thousands of visually impaired patients without treatment amid severe shortages of medical equipment and surgical supplies.

Hospitals are lacking key items including surgical microscopes and phaco machines. Officials say more than 2,800 patients are currently waiting for cataract surgery alone, while the total backlog for eye procedures, including corneal transplants, glaucoma operations and reconstructive surgery, exceeds 4,000 cases.

In addition to this, Israeli bombardment around medical facilities has forced the temporary shutdown of Gaza City’s Government Eye Hospital, the only public eye care center in the territory.

“The current situation clearly shows a shortage in all medical consumables and surgical tools,” says Dr. Hussam Dawoud, a senior consultant in ophthalmology and eye surgery and the director of the hospital. “Currently, we are providing services at around 60% of what we used to offer before the war. The main reason is that Israel is preventing the entry of medical equipment and surgical instruments.”

Doctors have also reported a sharp rise in severe corneal infections, which they attribute to overcrowded living conditions, poor sanitation and limited access to medication, with some patients suffering permanent vision loss.