The United States announced criminal charges on Tuesday against Hamas' top leadership, including the terror group's chief Yahya Sinwar, accusing them of leading efforts to kill civilians and destroy the state of Israel.
"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," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The statement was posted on the Department of Justice's X/Twitter account.
Justice Department Announces Terrorism Charges Against Senior Leaders of Hamas pic.twitter.com/z8gS2lUGvV
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 3, 2024
"During the attack, Hamas terrorists murdered civilians who tried to flee and those who sought refuge in bomb shelters," Garland said. "They weaponized sexual violence against women."
In his statement, Garland confirmed that the murder of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, along with every other American Hamas has killed since October 7, is being investigated as acts of terrorism.
Three of those being charged have already been eliminated by Israel (Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, and Ismail Haniyeh); Baraka is based in Beirut, and Mashaal is in Doha/Ankara.
The indictment filed against Hamas leaders is 38 pages long and includes seven charges in total.
The indictment described, among other things, that "at least 43 American citizens were among those murdered - and at least 10 Americans are missing, or kidnapped." It also details the events of the October 7 massacre, as well as the Nova part massacre, and the terrorists' invasion of Be’eri, Nir Oz, and other communities along the Gaza envelope.
In a report by CNN, this indictment has been deemed the first criminal step by the Justice Department to hold people accountable for the attack in Israel.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin
The announcement comes just days after the murder of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin in Gaza, which led President Joe Biden and other top US officials to hold Hamas leaders accountable.
“We’ll weigh other actions as appropriate,” CNN wrote, citing a senior administration official who declined to elaborate further.
Biden said over the weekend that Goldberg-Polin’s death was “as tragic as it is reprehensible.”
“Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” Biden said.