WASHINGTON – The Justice Department on Tuesday announced criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and others in connection with the October 7, 2023, rampage in Israel, marking the first attempt by U.S. law enforcement to formally name the masterminds behind the attack.
The seven-count criminal case filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder US citizens and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, that were used in the attack.
The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels and at least two of the other defendants named by the Justice Department are believed to have been killed. But U.S. officials say at least one person, whom they did not name, is expected to be brought to New York to face charges.
“The indictments unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target all aspects of Hamas’ operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement. “These actions will not be our last.”
Sinwar was named the overall head of Hamas after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and is on Israel’s most wanted list. He is believed to have spent most of the past 10 months in tunnels under Gaza, and it is unclear how much contact he has with the outside world.
Other indicted Hamas leaders include Haniyeh; Marwan Issa, deputy leader of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza who helped plan last year’s attack and who Israel says was killed when warplanes struck an underground facility in central Gaza in March; Khaled Mashaal, another Haniyeh deputy and a former leader of the group; Mohammed Deif, Hamas’s longtime shadowy military leader, believed dead after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza in July; and Ali Baraka, Hamas’s director of external relations.
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