Nadene Goldfoot
Where is Khaled Mashal? Khaled Mashal/Mashaal born 28 May 1956) is a Palestinian politician who served as the second chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from 1996 until May 2017, when he was succeeded by Ismail Haniyeh. He has been the acting leader of Hamas twice, from July 2024 until August 2024 and since October 2024, after both leaders were assassinated by Israel. Note; it was thought earlier that he had been assassinated before the attempt on 9/9/25 by Israel. It's possible that Khaled and other prominent Hamas members had left the room expected to be in and went into another to pray, as they do so 5 times a day. That may have saved them and I include Khaled Mashal in this group if alive.
Word out is that he is no longer important enough or viable. Hamas may be ignoring him.
Note that there were listed the 2 heads of Hamas in the meeting; Mashal and the present active one, Khalil al-Hayya: Head of Hamas in Gaza and a senior negotiator who was reportedly meeting with other members of the negotiating team when the strike occurred. Why wasn't Mashaal mentioned? Hayya was accidently in another room with others praying and was safe that way.
Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin was a Palestinian politician and imam who founded Hamas, an Islamist political and military organization. He also served as the first chairman of the Hamas Shura Council and de facto leader of Hamas since its inception from December 1987 until his assassination in March 2004.
Ismail Haniyeh (29 January 1962 – 31 July 2024) was a Palestinian politician who served as third chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from May 2017 until his assassination in July 2024. He also served as the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority from March 2006 until June 2014 and the first Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip from June 2007 until February 2017, where he was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar.
Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar was a Palestinian militant and politician who served as fourth chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau from August 2024, and as the second leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from February 2017, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh in both roles. He was killed in a clash with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in October 2024.
The agents entered Jordan on fake Canadian passports and disguised as tourists. Two of them waited at the entrance of the Hamas offices in Jordan's capital Amman, and, as Mashal walked into his office, one of them came up from behind and held a device to Mashal's left ear that transmitted a fast-acting poison, (said to be fentanyl) . Mashal's bodyguards were suspicious prior to the attack and were able to chase the agents down and capture them. Other agents were also found and captured.
In an interview, he described the attack as "a loud noise in my ear ... like a boom, like an electric shock." Initially, he thought the agents had failed to hurt him but later in the day he developed a severe headache and began vomiting. He was rushed to a Jordanian hospital where his condition rapidly deteriorated.
Immediately after the incident, Jordan's King Hussein demanded that Netanyahu turn over the antidote for the poison, threatening to sever diplomatic relations and to try the detained Mossad agents. King Hussein feared that the death of a Hamas leader would trigger riots in his kingdom, perhaps even a civil war. Netanyahu refused, and the incident quickly grew in political significance. With Israeli-Jordanian relations rapidly deteriorating, King Hussein threatened to void the historic 1994 peace between the two countries should Mashal die. U.S. President Bill Clinton intervened and compelled Netanyahu to turn over the antidote.
In August 1999, Hamas' "external leadership" was expelled from Jordan by King Abdullah II. The King feared that the activities of Hamas and its Jordanian allies would jeopardize peace negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel (Saeb Erekat and Gilead Sher, leading to Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum), and accused Hamas of engaging in illegitimate activities within Jordan.
In mid-September 1999, authorities arrested several Hamas leaders, including Mashal and Ibrahim Ghosheh on their return from a visit to Iran, and charged them with being members of an illegal organization, storing weapons, conducting military exercises, and using Jordan as a training base, charges they denied.
Mashal was expelled from Jordan in November, and initially made Qatar his home.
In 2001, he moved to Damascus, Syria.
In February 2012, as the Syrian civil war progressed, Mashal left Syria and returned to Qatar. Hamas distanced itself from the Syrian government and closed its offices in Damascus. Soon after, Mashal announced his support for the Syrian opposition, prompting Syrian state TV to issue a "withering attack" on him.
In December 2012, following the eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas and the negotiated truce, Mashal visited Gaza for the first time, beginning a four-day-long visit to the territory, for the 25th anniversary of Hamas's founding.
Mashal believes that peace with Israel requires two things: that the Palestinian refugees that fled from, or were expelled by, Israeli forces in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence in which the Jewish State was established are allowed to return and that Israel withdraws from the territories it occupied in the 1967 war. Israel has said it would never agree to let all of the refugees return
After October 7, 2023, following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Mashal praised the operation as a clever act of legitimate resistance against Israeli control. He acknowledged that Hamas predicted the major consequences of the attack, stating that loss of Palestinian lives is a necessary sacrifice in their struggle for freedom.
A few days later, Mashal urged the Arab and Muslim world to join the war against Israel. He also said: "To all scholars who teach jihad... to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application (of theories)".
In August 2024, he called for the resumption of suicide bombings against Israel. Evidently he was still alive, or somebody was using his name to promote these acts.
Update:
A funeral was held yesterday in Doha for the 6 people killed in the Israeli airstrike against the Hamas leadership meeting there. Included in the dead were the son of Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya, his chief of staff and one of his bodyguards. No senior Hamas figures were at the funeral. While nothing has yet been officially confirmed, it appears that the strike did not succeed in eliminated the Hamas leadership, who apparently left the targeted room for prayers moments before the strike. A Qatari security officer killed in the strike, and several other were injured. Qatar's Prime Minister said that Qatar would respond to the Israeli strike, but didn't say how or when.
Resource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Mashal
edit: 9/13,25, fentanyl
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200925-remembering-israels-botched-attempt-to-assassinate-khaled-meshaal/
https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/09/middleeast/khaled-meshaal-fast-facts
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