U.S. officials unsealed charges Tuesday against senior Hamas leaders, accusing them of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization, conspiring to murder Americans and conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.
Sign up for Fact Checker, our weekly review of what's true, false or in-between in politics.
The criminal complaint against Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar and others was made public as U.S. diplomats are preparing to present Israel and Hamas with a final hostage-release and cease-fire proposal, potentially as soon as this week.
The charging document — filed under seal in February in federal court in New York — cites the group’s large-scale attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which killed approximately 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, and resulted in the taking of about 250 hostages. It doesn’t provide much new information about Hamas, but describes a terrorist conspiracy by the group’s leaders dating back to 1997 “to kill nationals of the United States.”
In a videotaped statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland stressed that Hamas is responsible for the Oct. 7 deaths, and also said the Justice Department is investigating the killing of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli American who was among those taken hostage.
“During the attack, Hamas terrorists murdered civilians who tried to flee, and those who sought refuge in bomb shelters,” Garland said. “They murdered entire families. They murdered the elderly, and they murdered young children. They weaponized sexual violence against women.”
The Israeli military found Goldberg-Polin’s body and those of five other slain hostages in a tunnel in Gaza last week. They had been executed by their captors in recent days as Israeli troops operated in the area, Israel has said.
U.S. law allows the Justice Department to charge foreign nationals for killing Americans. Garland has previously said the department was investigating the killings of Americans by Hamas, and he reiterated that on Tuesday.
“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.”
In addition to Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in Gaza’s subterranean tunnels, the complaint charges three Hamas leaders who have since been killed. Among them is Ismail Haniyeh, who was the group’s political leader until he was assassinated in Tehran in July, apparently by Israel. The other two are Mohammed Deif, a top Hamas military leader until he was apparently killed by Israel in a July operation, and Marwan Issa, a deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing until he was killed in March in an Israeli operation in central Gaza.
Goldberg-Polin, whose American-born parents have been the most prominent global advocates for securing the hostages’ release, was buried in Israel on Monday.
His death seems to have been a breaking point of sorts for the U.S. government and the broader effort to negotiate a deal that would result in the release of the remaining hostages and include at least a temporary cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel’s military operation has killed more than 40,000 people since October, including militants.
“We want to see those responsible for his death brought to justice,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday of Goldberg-Polin. “That can happen one of several ways. It could be brought to justice through the judicial system, either an Israeli judicial system and — of course, while I can’t speak for the American judicial system, obviously the Justice Department does look to bring — to hold responsible those accountable for the deaths of American citizens.”
Miller also said justice could come “through other means. It could be through terrorists who die on the battlefield in Gaza, including those responsible for his death.”
Of the six Hamas officials charged by the United States, two others besides Sinwar are still believed to be alive. One of them, Khaled Meshal, is described by U.S. officials as the head of Hamas’s diaspora office, directing the group’s activities outside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The other, Ali Baraka, is the head of Hamas’s national relations abroad.
While it’s unlikely that these defendants will be brought to the United States to face trial, some high-profile charged terrorists have ultimately been killed in foreign countries by American drone strikes or, in the case of Osama bin Laden, a raid by U.S. Special Forces.
Sign up for Fact Checker, our weekly review of what's true, false or in-between in politics.
The criminal complaint against Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar and others was made public as U.S. diplomats are preparing to present Israel and Hamas with a final hostage-release and cease-fire proposal, potentially as soon as this week.
The charging document — filed under seal in February in federal court in New York — cites the group’s large-scale attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which killed approximately 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, and resulted in the taking of about 250 hostages. It doesn’t provide much new information about Hamas, but describes a terrorist conspiracy by the group’s leaders dating back to 1997 “to kill nationals of the United States.”
In a videotaped statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland stressed that Hamas is responsible for the Oct. 7 deaths, and also said the Justice Department is investigating the killing of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli American who was among those taken hostage.
“During the attack, Hamas terrorists murdered civilians who tried to flee, and those who sought refuge in bomb shelters,” Garland said. “They murdered entire families. They murdered the elderly, and they murdered young children. They weaponized sexual violence against women.”
The Israeli military found Goldberg-Polin’s body and those of five other slain hostages in a tunnel in Gaza last week. They had been executed by their captors in recent days as Israeli troops operated in the area, Israel has said.
U.S. law allows the Justice Department to charge foreign nationals for killing Americans. Garland has previously said the department was investigating the killings of Americans by Hamas, and he reiterated that on Tuesday.
“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.”
In addition to Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in Gaza’s subterranean tunnels, the complaint charges three Hamas leaders who have since been killed. Among them is Ismail Haniyeh, who was the group’s political leader until he was assassinated in Tehran in July, apparently by Israel. The other two are Mohammed Deif, a top Hamas military leader until he was apparently killed by Israel in a July operation, and Marwan Issa, a deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing until he was killed in March in an Israeli operation in central Gaza.
Goldberg-Polin, whose American-born parents have been the most prominent global advocates for securing the hostages’ release, was buried in Israel on Monday.
His death seems to have been a breaking point of sorts for the U.S. government and the broader effort to negotiate a deal that would result in the release of the remaining hostages and include at least a temporary cease-fire in Gaza, where Israel’s military operation has killed more than 40,000 people since October, including militants.
“We want to see those responsible for his death brought to justice,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday of Goldberg-Polin. “That can happen one of several ways. It could be brought to justice through the judicial system, either an Israeli judicial system and — of course, while I can’t speak for the American judicial system, obviously the Justice Department does look to bring — to hold responsible those accountable for the deaths of American citizens.”
Miller also said justice could come “through other means. It could be through terrorists who die on the battlefield in Gaza, including those responsible for his death.”
Of the six Hamas officials charged by the United States, two others besides Sinwar are still believed to be alive. One of them, Khaled Meshal, is described by U.S. officials as the head of Hamas’s diaspora office, directing the group’s activities outside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The other, Ali Baraka, is the head of Hamas’s national relations abroad.
While it’s unlikely that these defendants will be brought to the United States to face trial, some high-profile charged terrorists have ultimately been killed in foreign countries by American drone strikes or, in the case of Osama bin Laden, a raid by U.S. Special Forces.
