Justice Department charges senior Hamas leaders for Oct. 7 attacks in Israel
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department charged six leaders of Hamas with the Oct. 7 attack on Israel for charges including conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, conspiracy to support a terrorist organization and conspiracy to use bombs and weapons of mass destruction.
The six defendants named in charges unsealed Tuesday include: chief leader and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka; and Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammad Al-Masri, Marwan Issa, all three of whom who have been declared or reported dead.
Haniyeh, Hamas' political chief, was assassinated in Tehran in July. Issa, the third-ranking Hamas leader, was reportedly killed in March. And Oct. 7 planner Al-Masri, known as Mohammad Deif, was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike in June.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the charges are for financing and directing a decades-long campaign to kill Americans and endanger the security of the United States. He said the Oct. 7 rampage was the group's most violent, large-scale terrorist attack, including the murder of entire families and, Garland said, the weaponization of sexual violence against women.
"On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians," Garland said. "They perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust."
More: These were the 6 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas found dead in Gaza on Sunday
The charges were filed Feb. 1 and kept under seal to allow the U.S. to potentially take Haniyeh and other leaders into custody, according to a Justice Department official. After his death and other developments in the region, it was no longer necessary to keep those charges under seal, the official said.
After the deaths of six more hostages during the weekend, Garland said federal authorities are investigating the killing of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American.
"We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of the brutal murders of Americans, as acts of terrorism," Garland said. "We will continue to support the whole of government effort to bring the Americans still being held hostage home."
At least 43 U.S. citizens were among those killed in the Oct. 7 attack.
More than 40,000 people have died in Israeli bombings and fire in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Cease-fire talks to stop the 10-month war and return the surviving hostages continue, brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt.
More: Israel hits a wall in Gaza, some US officials say, as civilian deaths mount
The defendants include:
Sinwar, also known as Abu Ibrahim, has been the leader of Hamas in Gaza since about 2017. He was one of the founders of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, which carried out the attack.
Meshaal, also known as Abu al-Waleed, was the chairman of the Hamas Politburo from 2004 to 2017 and is now head of its diaspora office ? effectively responsible for the group's official presence outside Gaza and the West Bank.
Baraka is Hamas' head of national relations abroad and from 2011 to 2019 he was the group's representative in Lebanon.
Haniyeh was the chairman of Hamas’s Politburo from 2017 until his reported death July 31. Before 2017, Haniyeh was the deputy chairman of the Politburo and the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh was based principally in Turkey and Qatar.
Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif and al Khalid al-Deif, was the commander in chief of the al-Qassam Brigades, a position he held from about 2002 until his reported death July 13. Al-Masri was based principally in the Gaza Strip.
Issa, also known as Abu Baraa, was the deputy commander of the al-Qassam Brigades from approximately 2007 until his reported death March 10. Issa was based principally in the Gaza Strip.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hamas leaders charged for Oct 7 attack by DOJ