11 Months After October 7, DOJ Charges 6 Hamas Leaders with Terrorism; 3 Already Dead, Killed by Israel

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 23: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (C) speaks alongside U.S
Anna Moneymaker / Getty

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar with terrorism on Tuesday, together with six other members of the terrorist organization — nearly 11 months after the Hamas attack on Israel on of October 7.

Three of the terrorists listed in the criminal complaint are already dead, having been killed by Israel. The dead include former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammad Al-Masri (also known as Mohammed Deif), and Marwan Issa. The living ones include Sinwar, Hamas external chief Khaled Meshaal, and foreign relations head Ali Baraka.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges on Tuesday:

The DOJ said in a press release:

The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion charges against six senior leaders of Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The charges relate to the defendants’ central roles in planning, supporting, and perpetrating the terrorist atrocities that Hamas committed in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 (the October 7 Hamas Massacres), involving the murders and kidnappings of countless innocent civilians, including American citizens, which was the culmination of Hamas’s decades-long campaign of terrorism and violence against Israel and its allies, including American citizens. The defendants are either deceased or remain at large.

“The Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “On October 7th, Hamas terrorists, led by these defendants, murdered nearly 1200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians. This weekend, we learned that Hamas murdered an additional six people they had kidnapped and held captive for nearly a year, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23 year old Israeli American. We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of Hamas’ brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism. The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”

Read the complaint here.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.