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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

Syria Moves Military Reinforcements East of Aleppo After Telling Kurds to Withdraw

Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Moves Military Reinforcements East of Aleppo After Telling Kurds to Withdraw

Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Military vehicles drive along a road as the last Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state-run Ekhbariya TV said, following a ceasefire deal that allowed evacuations after days of deadly clashes, in Latakia, Syria, January 14, 2026. (Reuters)

Syria's army was moving reinforcements east of Aleppo city on Wednesday, a day after it told Kurdish forces to withdraw from the area following deadly clashes last week.

The deployment comes as Syria's government seeks to extend its authority across the country, but progress has stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government under a deal reached in March.

The United States, which for years has supported Kurdish fighters but also backs Syria's new authorities, urged all parties to "avoid actions that could further escalate tensions" in a statement by the US military's Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper.

On Tuesday, Syrian state television published an army statement with a map declaring a large area east of Aleppo city a "closed military zone" and said "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to east of the Euphrates" River.

The area, controlled by Kurdish forces, extends from near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Aleppo, to the Euphrates about 30 kilometers further east, as well as towards the south.

State news agency SANA published images on Wednesday showing military reinforcements en route from the coastal province of Latakia, while a military source on the ground, requesting anonymity, said reinforcements were arriving from both Latakia and the Damascus region.

Both sides reported limited skirmishes overnight.

An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of Deir Hafer reported hearing intermittent artillery shelling on Wednesday, which the military source said was due to government targeting of positions belonging to the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

- 'Declaration of war' -

The SDF controls swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the ISIS group.

On Monday, Syria accused the SDF of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it would send its own personnel there in response.

Kurdish forces on Tuesday denied any build-up of their personnel and accused the government of attacking the town, while state television said SDF sniper fire there killed one person.

Cooper urged "a durable diplomatic resolution through dialogue".

Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration, said that government forces were "preparing themselves for another attack".

"The real intention is a full-scale attack" against Kurdish-held areas, she told an online press conference, accusing the government of having made a "declaration of war" and breaking the March agreement on integrating Kurdish forces.

Syria's government took full control of Aleppo city over the weekend after capturing its Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud and Achrafieh neighborhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast.

Both sides traded blame over who started the violence last week that killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands.

- PKK, Türkiye -

On Tuesday in Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, thousands of people demonstrated against the Aleppo violence, while shops were shut in a general strike.

Some protesters carried Kurdish flags and banners in support of the SDF.

"This government has not honored its commitments towards any Syrians," said cafe owner Joudi Ali.

Other protesters burned portraits of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, whose country has lauded the Syrian government's Aleppo operation "against terrorist organizations".

Türkiye has long been hostile to the SDF, seeing it as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a major threat along its southern border.

Last year, the PKK announced an end to its long-running armed struggle against the Turkish state and began destroying its weapons, but Ankara has insisted that the move include armed Kurdish groups in Syria.

On Tuesday, the PKK called the "attack on the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo" an attempt to sabotage peace efforts between it and Ankara.

A day earlier, Ankara's ruling party levelled the same accusation against Kurdish fighters.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 45 civilians and 60 soldiers and fighters from both sides killed in the Aleppo violence.

Arab World

Lebanon Says France to Host Conference to Support Army

French Special Presidential Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian looks on during a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (not pictured) at the Government Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 January 2026. (EPA)
French Special Presidential Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian looks on during a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (not pictured) at the Government Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 January 2026. (EPA)
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Lebanon Says France to Host Conference to Support Army

French Special Presidential Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian looks on during a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (not pictured) at the Government Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 January 2026. (EPA)
French Special Presidential Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian looks on during a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (not pictured) at the Government Palace in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 January 2026. (EPA)

Lebanon said Wednesday that a conference in support of the country's army as it seeks to disarm Hezbollah would take place in Paris on March 5.

The announcement follows recent promises of support to the military, which lacks funds, equipment and technical expertise.

Presidency spokeswoman Najat Charafeddine said President Joseph Aoun met French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, Saudi envoy Yazid bin Farhan and ambassadors including from the US, Egypt and Qatar, discussing preparations for "a conference to support the Lebanese army and internal security forces".

"It was decided to hold the conference in Paris on March 5, to be opened by French President Emmanuel Macron," she said at the presidential palace.

Under US pressure and fearing expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon has committed to disarming the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was badly weakened in more than a year of hostilities with Israel that largely ended in late 2024.

Last week, Lebanon's army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm the group, covering the area south of the Litani river, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

A plan for the disarmament north of the Litani is to be presented to cabinet next month.
Israel, which accuses Hezbollah or rearming, has criticized the army's progress as insufficient, while Hezbollah has rejected calls to surrender its weapons.

Lebanon's army has dismantled tunnels and other military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah near the Israeli border in recent months, seizing weapons and ammunition, despite its limited capacities.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah, and has maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.

Last month, talks with international envoys in Paris touched on the Lebanese army's needs, while its chief agreed to document its progress in disarming Hezbollah.

Arab World

Iraqi Officials Arrest Man Wanted by Australian Police as 'Number One Priority'

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrested man, Kazem Hamad, was a threat to national security. (Getty Images file)
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrested man, Kazem Hamad, was a threat to national security. (Getty Images file)
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Iraqi Officials Arrest Man Wanted by Australian Police as 'Number One Priority'

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrested man, Kazem Hamad, was a threat to national security. (Getty Images file)
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrested man, Kazem Hamad, was a threat to national security. (Getty Images file)

Iraqi officials have arrested a man wanted by Australian Federal Police as a person of interest in ​the investigation into a spate of firebombings, including an antisemitic attack on a Melbourne synagogue, police said on Wednesday.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrested man, Kazem Hamad, was a threat to national security and that she had identified ‌him as her "Number ‌One priority".

Iraq's National ‌Center ⁠for ​International ‌Judicial Cooperation said in a statement that Kadhim Malik Hamad Rabah al-Hajami had been arrested as part of a drugs investigation, after a request from Australia.

Barrett said Iraqi officials had made an independent decision to arrest the man ⁠in their own criminal investigation, after Australian Federal Police provided ‌information to Iraqi law enforcement ‍late last year.

"This ‍arrest is a significant disruption to an ‍alleged serious criminal and his alleged criminal enterprise in Australia," she said in a statement.

In October, Barrett said that in addition to being a ​suspect in arson attacks in Australia linked to the tobacco trade, the man ⁠was "a person of interest in the investigation into the alleged politically-motivated arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue" in Melbourne.

Australia expelled Iran's ambassador in August after the Australian Security Intelligence Organization traced the funding of hooded criminals who allegedly set fire to the Melbourne synagogue in December 2024 to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Hamad, previously convicted in Australia for drug trafficking ‌offences, was deported from Australia to Iraq in 2023.