The US Department of Justice on Tuesday announced criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with an attack in Israel on Oct. 7 last year.
The seven-count criminal complaint 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 nationals 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, and military supplies.
Photo: AFP
The effect of the case might be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels and the justice department says three of the six defendants named in the complaint are believed to be dead.
However, officials say additional actions are expected as part of a broader effort to target the operations of a militant group that was designated in 1997 by the US government as a foreign terrorist organization and has been linked to a series of deadly attacks on Israel, including suicide bombings.
The complaint was originally filed under seal in February to give the US time to try to take into custody the then-Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but was unsealed on Tuesday after Haniyeh’s death in July and other developments in the region lessened the need for secrecy, the Justice Department said.
“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement. “These actions will not be our last.”
The charges come as the White House says it is developing a new ceasefire and hostage deal proposal with its Egyptian and Qatari counterparts to try to bring about an agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the nearly 11-month war in Gaza.
A US official, who was not authorized to talk publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that there was no reason to believe the charges would affect the ongoing negotiations.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the recent “executions” of six hostages, including one American, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, by Hamas underscore “the sense of urgency” in the talks.
“We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of the brutal murders of Americans, as acts of terrorism,” Garland said in the statement. “We will continue to support the whole of government effort to bring the Americans still being held hostage home.”
Sinwar was appointed the overall head of Hamas after the killing of Haniyeh in Iran and sits atop 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.
He was a long-serving Palestinian prisoner freed in an exchange of the type that would be part of a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Haniyeh was also charged.
Other Hamas leaders facing charges include Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza, who helped plan last year’s attack and who Israel says was killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza in March; Khaled Mashaal, another Haniyeh deputy and a former leader of the group thought to be based in Qatar; Mohammed Deif, Hamas’ military leader, who is thought to be dead following an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza in July; and Lebanon-based Ali Baraka, Hamas’ head of external relations.
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