Khaled Meshaal is a political leader from a religious Islamic family. He was born in Palestine, which was then controlled by Jordan. He saw a lot of political fighting when he was young, and when his family moved to Kuwait, he joined a group called the “Muslim Brotherhood.” This college graduate taught physics in Kuwait for a while. At the same time, he started the “Islamic League” for Palestinian students in Kuwait. Khaled became an active member of the group “Hamas” after it was formed. He was often seen on the political scene in Palestine. After the “Gulf War” in Kuwait, the young man moved to Jordan and became the leader of “Hamas” in a few years. Soon after, Israeli special agents led by Prime Minister Netanyahu tried to kill him, but they failed. Khaled’s life was saved by King Abdullah of Jordan, but Khaled was immediately sent into exile in Qatar. From there, he moved to Syria. Since then, he has led his group in a long fight between Israel and Palestine to “free Jerusalem.” In the civil war that broke out in Syria, this political leader has also played an important role against President Bashar al-Assad. Even though he left his group when it was in trouble, he was recently re-elected as Chairman of “Hamas,” and he is still leading Palestine in the war against Israel.
Early years and childhood
Khaled Meshaal was born in Silwad, Palestine, on May 28, 1956. At the time, Palestine was ruled by Jordan.
The young boy went to Silwad Elementary School until 1967 when his family moved to Kuwait because they couldn’t afford to stay there any longer.
Khaled joined the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that started in Egypt in 1971.
Khaled Mashal’s Career
In 1978, he got his degree in Physics from “Kuwait University.” He was hired as a teacher at the university the same year.
Meshaal started the “Islamic League for Palestinian Students” (al-rabita al-islamiyya li Talabat Filastin) in 1980. For the next four years, he worked as a teacher in Kuwait.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin helped start the Islamic resistance group Hamas in 1987. Meshaal joined the group, and Meshaal took over the branch in Kuwait. Khaled has also been a member of the “Political Bureau of Hamas” since the group was first made.
During the Gulf War in 1991, when Iraq attacked Kuwait, the bureaucrat moved to Jordan and started working for “Hamas.” Five years later, he was named the organization’s Chairman.
On September 25, 1997, agents from the Israeli intelligence agency “Mossad” pretended to be Canadian tourists and sprayed poison into the ears of the leader of “Hamas.” This failed assassination attempt was ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the Israeli agents who tried to do it were caught.
After King Abdullah of Jordan threatened to break ties between Israel and his country, Netanyahu sent the poison’s cure, saving Khaled’s life.
In 1999, King Abdullah said that “Hamas” was only a way to ruin the good relations between Israel and Jordan. Leaders of the group, such as Meshaal and Mousa Abu Marzook, were arrested right away.
They were accused of doing things that were against the law, like using illegal ways to get money and having weapons. He had to move to Qatar, but in 2001, he moved to Damascus, Syria.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed by Israeli forces on March 22, 2004, and Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi was chosen to be the next spiritual leader of “Hamas.” Within a month, the second person was also killed by Israeli planes, so Khaled became the leader of the organization.
In 2006, the Palestinian political party “Hamas” beat the “Fatah” party and won a majority of the votes. The next year, members of both political groups fought for almost a week until Khaled’s party won control of the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
In 2008, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter went to see him and try to talk about making a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, close to Jordan and Israel.
In 2011, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine, met Khaled and signed a peace agreement between “Hamas” and “Fatah.”
When the “Syrian Civil War” started, “Hamas” played a big part in fighting against Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria. Khaled ran away from the branch of “Hamas” in Damascus because of the riots that broke out.
Meshaal met King Abdullah in Jordan in 2012. He went there with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Crown Prince of Qatar. In the same year, the first person moved to Doha, which is the capital of Qatar. In December, he went to Gaza and said he would free Jerusalem, which is the capital of both Israel and Palestine.
In 2013, the people in “Hamas” chose Khaled to be the head of its political bureau again. The next year, Israel attacked Gaza in a war called “Operation Protective Edge,” which killed almost 3,000 people.
Works of note
This politician is most well-known for being the head of “Hamas,” a group that has been fighting Israel for a long time in order to take Jerusalem for Palestine. Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia have all called the group a “terrorist” group. It is against the law in Jordan, but not in places like Qatar, Iran, or Russia.
Personal History and Legacies
Khaled got married in 1981, and he and his wife have four boys and three girls.
Estimated Net worth
International sources say that this political leader has a net worth of about $2.6 billion.