Hamas is moving away from appointing a successor to its leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, stressing that a "five-member committee" will take over the management of the movement, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse, quoting two informed sources in the movement.

An informed source, who was not named by the agency, said that "the direction of the Hamas leadership is not to appoint a successor to the late leader of the movement, Yahya Sinwar, until the next elections are held" within the movement scheduled for March, "if circumstances permit."

He added that a "five-member committee" formed in August after the assassination of the movement's former political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran "will assume leadership of the movement."

The "Five-Member Leadership Committee" was formed to facilitate decision-making related to the movement in light of the difficulty of communicating with the head of the political bureau, Yahya Sinwar, in the Gaza Strip, where a devastating war has been raging between the movement and Hamas for more than a year.

The source explained that the committee consists of the leaders of the three regions, Khalil al-Hayya from the Gaza Strip, Zaher Jabarin in the West Bank, and Khaled Meshaal abroad, the head of the movement's Shura Council, Muhammad Darwish, and the Secretary of the Political Bureau, whose name the movement generally does not disclose for security reasons.

All members of the committee are based in Doha. The committee serves as a crisis cell and a leadership council for managing the war.

According to the source, the committee is responsible for "managing the movement in light of the war, exceptional circumstances and its future plans," and has the authority to "issue strategic decisions."

Another source in the movement said that Hamas leadership discussed a proposal "presented internally" to appoint a head for its general political bureau without announcing his name, but the members of the political bureau preferred to keep the five-member committee to assume leadership.

Yahya Sinwar has led the movement in Gaza since 2017. He was named head of its political bureau in early August, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31 in an Israeli strike.

Sinwar was also killed in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, accidentally in an Israeli military operation.

Hamas, which was founded in 1987, holds elections every four years to choose members of the political bureau.

It usually takes place in the three regions in complete secrecy, for fear of Israeli security prosecutions, but the movement usually officially announces the names of the head and most of the members of the General Political Bureau.

According to the second source, the committee renewed Al-Hayya’s assignment to the files of foreign relations and the truce negotiations in the Gaza Strip.