Leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal.Karim Jaafar / AFP / Getty
From Time Magazine:
Armored columns of Israeli troops rolled into Gaza on Jan. 3, ushering in the next phase in the country's effort to cripple Hamas. The ground offensive was a step Hamas's leader, Khaled Mashaal, had warned against. "If you commit the stupidity of launching a ground offensive then a black destiny awaits you," Mashaal cautioned during a speech televised on Al-Jazeera the previous night. Like Hamas itself — a group classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and E.U., but which provides much-needed social and welfare services to Palestinians — its exiled leader is a bit of a paradox. Mashaal, who has been based in Damascus since 1999, preaches a fiery brand of militancy but has indicated a willingness to accept the existence of a Jewish state (which Hamas's charter rejects) alongside a Palestinian one.
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