Justice Department charges Hamas leader with “terrorist atrocities” in October 7 Israeli attack

The Justice Department on Tuesday filed charges against Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and other leaders of the brutal organization for “terrorist atrocities” in the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.

The criminal complaint, filed in federal court in New York City, includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction resulting in death.

Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah are also accused of financially supporting the terrorist militia and providing weapons, including missiles, that were used in the attack.

With this complaint, US prosecutors have officially held the masterminds of the October 7 massacre accountable for the first time.

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“The charges filed today are just one part of our efforts to target every aspect of Hamas' operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video address. “These actions will not be our last. The Department of Justice has a long memory. We will pursue the terrorists responsible for murdering Americans – and those who illegally provide them with material support – for the rest of their lives.”

On October 7, 2023, Hamas stormed Israel, killing around 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds more hostage.

Tuesday's charges came days after Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six hostages – including 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin – in the tunnels beneath Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

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Hamas leader Sinwar is believed to be hiding somewhere in Hamas' vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza. It is unclear how much contact he has with the outside world.

Sinwar was appointed head of Hamas after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and is at the top of Israel's most wanted list.

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The other Hamas leaders indicted include Haniyeh, Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas's armed wing in Gaza who helped plan last year's attack and who Israel says was killed in March when fighter jets struck an underground complex in central Gaza; Khaled Mashaal, another of Haniyeh's deputies and a former leader of the group; Mohammed Deif, Hamas's longtime secretive military leader who was presumed dead after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza in July; and Ali Baraka, Hamas's foreign affairs chief.

The Justice Department said at least one person – whose name was not mentioned in the complaint – “is expected to be taken to the Southern District of New York first and arrested there.”

Fox News' David Spunt and the Associated Press contributed to this report.