Khaled Mashal, also known as Khaled Mashaal, Khaled Meshaal, and Khalid Mish'al, (Arabic: خالد مشعل‎) (born 1956) has been the overall leader of Hamas -- a Palestinian political, social, and paramilitary organization -- since the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004. In addition, Mashal heads the Syrian branch of the political bureau of Hamas.

Mishal was born in Silwad, a village north of Ramallah and moved to Jordan in 1967. While attending Kuwait University, Mashal, as an Islamic student leader, challenged the dominance of Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization, participating in the foundation of the Islamic Haqq Bloc, which competed with Fatah for leadership the General Union of Palestinian Students in Kuwait. After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal came to lead the Kuwaiti branch of the organization. Mashal moved from Kuwait to Jordan in 1991. Since the expulsion of the Hamas leadership from Jordan in August 1999, Mashal has lived in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Khaled Mashal was born in the Silwad neighborhood of Ramallah, then ruled by Jordan. Mashal attended Silwad elementary school until the 1967 Six-Day War and the occupation of the West Bank by Israel, that made his family refugee and had to escape for life to Kuwait. Mashal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Kuwait University. Mashal joined the Muslim Brotherhood in 1971.Profile: Khaled Meshaal of Hamas While at Kuwait University, Mashal headed the Islamic Justice (qa’imat al-haq al-islamiyya) list in the General Union of Palestinian Students elections in 1977. The basis for the Islamic Justice list was the Palestinian Islamic movement, as part of the Muslim Brotherhood. After the cancellation of the GUPS elections, Kalid Mashal established the Islamic League for Palestinian Students (al-rabita al-islamiyya li talabat filastin) in 1980.