Hamas elections exclude Zahhar, Rishq

Two senior members of Hamas, Mahmoud al-Zahhar and Ezzat al-Rishq, were not re-elected in the recent elections, sources from Hamas told Ma’an on Friday. Mahmoud al-Zahhar, Ezzat al-Rishq, and Sami Khater were not re-elected in the recent elections that secured Khalid Mashaal another term as secretary-general. A source added that the excluded Hamas members were now "out of the decision-making circle" in Hamas' leadership despite that the latter two are considered close to Mashaal. The sources suspected al-Zahhar was not re-elected because of his willingness to criticize Hamas in public. Among those who were re-elected were Odeh Mohammad Nazal, while Yahya al-Sinwar, Salih al-Arouri, Rawhi Mshtaha, and Maher Eid joined the politburo. Print