The United States has charged several Hamas leaders in connection with the Palestinian group’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year.
The Justice Department said it had indicted six Hamas members on charges including murdering US citizens, conspiring to finance terrorism and using weapons of mass destruction.
“The charges announced today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Among those charged are Ismael Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader who was killed in Iran in July, and Yahya Sinwar, who took power after Haniyeh’s death.
Other Hamas leaders charged include Marwan Issa, deputy commander of the group’s armed wing; Khaled Mashaal, who led the group outside Gaza and the West Bank; Mohammed Deif and Ali Baraka.
In a video statement, Mr Garland said the group was responsible for “funding and directing a decades-long campaign to kill American citizens and endanger the security of the United States”.
The group also “leads Hamas’ efforts to destroy the state of Israel and kill civilians to achieve that goal.”
He noted Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, in which the group “murdered entire families”.
“They kill old people and children. They use sexual violence as a weapon against women.”
He added that in the attack, the group “killed more than 1,200 people” and “carried out the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust”.
Charges also include conspiracy to commit a public bombing causing death, conspiracy to finance terrorism and providing material support for acts of terrorism causing death.
The Justice Department’s complaint notes that all “defendants are either dead or still at large.”
In his remarks, the attorney general referred to the killing of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, last week, along with 40 other Americans killed in the October 7 attack and eight people taken hostage.
“We are investigating the murder of Hersh, and every brutal murder of an American by Hamas, as an act of terrorism,” he said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray added that Hamas, which the United States classifies as a foreign terrorist organization, “has a long history of violence and its actions have increased terrorist threats in the United States and against American interests around the world.”
US officials also noted Iran’s role in supporting Hamas.
“Hamas attacks have played a key role in the Government of Iran’s global and regional campaign of support for terrorism aimed at weakening and ultimately destroying both the United States and Israel,” the Justice Department statement alleged.
If convicted, the group faces a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.
