Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Khalil al-Hayya on Sunday, 11 October 2026, saying that Israeli forces had killed the movement’s leaders in the Gaza Strip and that al-Hayya would also be targeted. Katz said in his remarks: “We eliminated Hamas leaders in Gaza, and al-Hayya’s turn will come too,” adding that he would be sent to “meet Haniyeh and his associates” in a direct threat to target the movement’s political bureau chairman.
Katz links threat to Turkey’s position on Hamas
The Israeli Defence Minister linked his threat to Turkey’s position on Hamas, accusing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of continuing to receive members of the movement and support activities that, he said, are run from Turkish territory in cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood against Israel and Muslim countries in the region.
These accusations represent Katz’s account of the activity attributed to the movement in Turkey. Hamas elected Khalil al-Hayya as chairman of its political bureau on 20 July 2026. Al-Hayya had been one of the movement’s most prominent leaders and its chief negotiator in talks on a ceasefire and prisoner exchanges during the war in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Hayya and several Hamas leaders had previously survived an Israeli attack targeting them in the Qatari capital, Doha, in September 2025, while they were attending a meeting to discuss a ceasefire proposal. The attack killed six people, but none of the targeted movement leaders were killed.
