Former head of Hamas’ political bureau Khaled Meshaal announced May 6 that Ismail Haniyeh won the movement’s internal elections held that day, and that he is the new head of the movement's political bureau. Meanwhile, Meshaal, who resides in Qatar, will remain a member of the movement's Shura Council.

A senior Hamas official based in Qatar told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Hamas’ Shura Council, inside and outside of Palestine, organized a videoconference call on May 6 during which they elected Haniyeh, who was competing for the position with two other Hamas leaders — Mousa Abu Marzouk and Mohammed Nazzal — and the 18 members of Hamas’ new political bureau.”

He said, “A number of Hamas leaders were supposed to travel to Qatar, where Hamas’ political leadership is based, to participate in the elections, but Egypt's closure of the Rafah crossing prevented it. With the election of Haniyeh, Hamas’ internal elections were completed after four months and held in four different geographical areas: Gaza, the West Bank, the Israeli prisons and outside of Palestine.”

Hamas issued a statement on the evening of May 7, announcing the names of some of its political bureau members, such as Abu Marzouk, Nazzal, Yahya Sinwar, Saleh al-Arouri, Khalil al-Hayya, Maher Obeid, Izzat al-Rishq and Fathi Hammad. However, with no reason given, the names of the other members and the name of the deputy head were not made public.