U.S. charges Hamas leader, other terrorists in connection with Oct. 7 massacre in Israel

NEW YORK — The Justice Department announced criminal charges Tuesday against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior terrorists in connection with the Oct. 7 rampage in Israel, marking the first effort by American law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.

The seven-count 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. nationals and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death.

It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, and military supplies.

The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding out in tunnels and the Justice Department says three of the six defendants named in the complaint are believed now to be dead. But officials say additional actions are expected as part of a broader effort to target the operations of a terrorist group that was designated in 1997 by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization and has been linked to a series of deadly attacks on Israel, including suicide bombings.

The complaint was originally filed under seal in February to give the U.S. time to try to take into custody the then-Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but was unsealed Tuesday after Haniyeh’s death in July and other developments in the region lessened the need for secrecy, the Justice Department said.

“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement. “These actions will not be our last.”

Sinwar was appointed the overall head of Hamas after the killing of Haniyeh in Iran and sits atop Israel’s most-wanted list. He is believed to have spent most of the past 10 months living in tunnels under Gaza, and it is unclear how much contact he has with the outside world.