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US Department of Justice prosecutors have unveiled charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and five other leading figures in the Palestinian militant group, three of whom are believed to be already dead, with offenses including terrorism over the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The details were released in a press release from the US Department of Justice, which said that the FBI is involved in investigating the alleged crimes.

The indictment that was unsealed Tuesday marks the first step in the US trying to hold Hamas accountable for the killing and kidnapping of hundreds of civilians, including US citizens, or persons who held dual US citizenship with Israel, but it is doubtful whether the indictments can lead to immediate actions.

The charges come as the US and other negotiators push for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal nearly 11 months into the Israel-Hamas war that has already caused the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians and at least 1,600 Israelis.

The indictments will perhaps become another negotiating chip.

The indictment had been filed under seal in February against Sinwar; Ismail Haniyeh; Mohammad Al-Masri, aka Mohammed Deif; Marwan Issa; Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka, but has only now been released.

The Hamas six are charged with offenses including conspiring to murder US nationals, conspiring to finance terrorism and conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction resulting in death. The indictment features allegations of attacks that stretch back decades.

The indictment is perhaps unusual, because normally when US dual citizens travel overseas to dangerous areas as citizens of other countries, they do not receive US consular protection.

The charges “relate to the defendants’ central roles in planning, supporting, and perpetrating the terrorist atrocities that Hamas committed in Israel” on Oct. 7, which the DOJ said marked “the culmination of Hamas’s decades-long campaign of terrorism and violence against Israel and its allies.”
What they’re saying: “The Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

He said the accused men led the Hamas killings of nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapping of hundreds of civilians.

“This weekend, we learned that Hamas murdered an additional six people they had kidnapped and held captive for nearly a year, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli American,” Garland added.

“We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of Hamas’ brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism. The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”

Sources: AP, US Department of Justice, Axiom.

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