US announces criminal charges against Sinwar, 5 other Hamas leaders for Oct. 7 attack

The Justice Department announces criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and five other leaders of the terror group in connection with its October 7 onslaught against Israel.

The criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death.

“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’s operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland says in a video statement. “These actions will not be our last.”

“As outlined in our complaint, those defendants — armed with weapons, political support, and funding from the Government of Iran, and support from Hezbollah — have led Hamas’s efforts to destroy the State of Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim,” Garland adds.

The other Hamas leaders charged are Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by Israel on July 31; Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, who helped plan last year’s attack and was killed by Israel in March; Khaled Mashaal, another Haniyeh deputy based in Doha and a former leader of the group; Muhammad Deif, the longtime Hamas military wing chief, who Israel killed in July; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official based in Lebanon.

The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding out in tunnels underneath Gaza and at least three of the other defendants named by the Justice Department are thought to have been killed. But US officials say at least one person, whom they did not name, is expected to be brought to New York for prosecution.