The United States has brought charges against several Hamas leaders in connection with the group’s deadly attack on Israel on 7th October. The US Department of Justice announced indictments against six Hamas members, accusing them of “conspiracy to provide material support for acts of terrorism” and six other related offences.
Federal court documents, unsealed on Tuesday, revealed that US authorities have charged leaders of the Palestinian armed group Hamas with a series of “terrorism” offences.
The six men, including Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the late political figure Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran in late July, were named in the February 1 charging document.
They face accusations of “conspiracy to provide material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death” among other charges. The document also included a request for the arrest of the accused.
Hamas, which the US designates as a “terrorist organisation”, launched a large-scale attack on Israel on 7th October 2023, igniting the ongoing brutal conflict in the Gaza Strip, which is under Hamas control.
“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’s operations. These actions will not be our last,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated.
Garland added, “Yahya Sinwar and the other senior leaders of Hamas are charged today with orchestrating this terrorist organisation’s decades-long campaign of mass violence and terror — including on October 7th.”
The recent Israeli bombardment against Palestinians has reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 40,819 people in Gaza. The UN rights office reports that most of those killed are women and children.
The 7th October attack on Israel led to the deaths of 1,205 people, primarily civilians, including hostages who were killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official data.