Palestinian Authority deputy chief Hussein al-Sheikh congratulated Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya following his election as head of the terrorist group last week, according to a Hamas statement.
Al-Sheikh wished al-Hayya, 65, success in his new position, according to the statement, cited by the Palestinian Information Center, an outlet affiliated with the terror organization.
Al-Hayya told al-Sheikh he was committed to serving the Palestinian people, defending “their national principles” and working to protect Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria and elsewhere, according to the statement.
Al-Hayya also stressed the need to work with various Palestinian leaders to achieve unity “in confronting current challenges.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said the Palestinian Authority was acting “hand-in-hand” with Hamas terrorists.
“Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh congratulated Khalil al-Hayya on becoming jihadi Hamas’s new terror chief,” the ministry wrote on X, adding that al-Hayya was “one of the architects” of the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
Before Oct. 7, al-Hayya served as deputy to Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar. He has maintained close ties with Iran and was among the top Hamas officials who met with the regime’s now-slain supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Al-Hayya left the Gaza Strip before the Oct. 7 onslaught and has since mostly been based in Qatar, though he has also made visits to Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. He has since headed Hamas’s negotiating team in ceasefire talks with the United States.
In January 2025, al-Hayya called the Oct. 7 massacre “a source of pride for our people ... to be passed down from generation to generation.”
