Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal’s Long Road to Gaza

Although this Friday officially marks the 25th anniversary of Hamas, the group held celebrations this past Saturday with thousands rallying in Gaza. The events included a speech by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who marked the occasion with his first ever visit to Gaza. He has led the group since 1996 from various locations outside of the Palestinian territories that he left with his family in 1967.

We thought it would be interesting to look at major events in his life during three different time windows: 1967 to 2008, 2009 to 2010, and 2011 to present. Two periods that immediately stand out are late 2009/early 2010 when Meshaal in quick succession visited with political officials in Iran, Syria, and Russia, and then the relative lack of activity during the first half of 2011 as the Arab Spring unfolded.

Check out the interactive timelines from Recorded Future shown below, which include a range of events on Meshaal from his travel to political meetings to quotations, and leave us a note in the comments with any interesting moments you find!