The United States announced on Tuesday that it has filed criminal charges against top leaders of Hamas for their roles in planning, supporting, and executing the deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The charges were brought against Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, and at least five others, for orchestrating an attack that resulted in the death of 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, according to Israeli figures.
The attack led Israel to launch a military campaign on Gaza, which killed more than 40,800 Palestinians and devastated large portions of the territory.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, “As outlined in our indictment, these defendants, armed with weapons, political support, and funding from the Iranian government and backing from Hezbollah, led Hamas’s efforts to destroy the State of Israel and kill civilians in support of this goal.”
The lawsuit lists six defendants, three of whom are confirmed to be alive: Sinwar, believed to be hiding in Gaza; Khaled Mashaal, residing in Doha and heading the movement’s office abroad; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas official residing in Lebanon.
The other three defendants include former Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in July in Tehran; Mohammad Deif, commander of Hamas’s military wing, whom Israel claims to have killed in an airstrike in July; and Marwan Issa, deputy military commander of the wing, who Israel claims was killed in a March airstrike.
Iran accuses Israel of assassinating Haniyeh, though Israeli officials have not acknowledged the act.
The U.S. prosecution charged the six men in February but kept the lawsuit secret hoping to capture Haniyeh, according to a Justice Department official. The charges were disclosed following Haniyeh’s death.
