Khaled Mashal

Palestinian political leader and former head of the political bureau of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement. Born in 1956 in the West Bank, he became an influential figure in Hamas after the group’s formation in 1987. Mashal was pivotal in shaping Hamas’s political strategies and its relations with other countries in the Middle East. Known for his survival after a 1997 Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan, Mashal has since been a vocal advocate for armed resistance against Israel and has promoted the Palestinian cause on the international stage. Under his leadership, Hamas strengthened its political and military presence in Gaza, though Mashal stepped down as leader in 2017.