Terrorism|Among the defendants are the political leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, and his predecessor, Ismail Haniyya, who died in Iran at the end of July.
United States accuses the leaders of the extremist organization Hamas of, among other things, crimes related to terrorism, according to the federal court’s documents published on Tuesday of the documents.
The six men are named in a document dated at the beginning of February, which lists a total of seven charges. American newspaper New York Times by they are accused of planning and carrying out at least several terrorist acts, including the October 7 attack on Israel last year.
Among the defendants are the political leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, and his predecessor, Ismail Haniyya, who died in Iran at the end of July. He was killed in an attack that Iran and Hamas have blamed on Israel. In addition, among the accused is also the leader of the armed wing of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, who is believed to have been killed in an attack carried out by Israel in July.
Israeli commanders believe that 61-year-old Sinwar is hiding in tunnels in the Gaza Strip.
According to a representative of the US Department of Justice, the release of the documents was motivated by Haniyya’s death and recent events in the region, which he did not specify.
According to NYT, the US Department of Justice said that the indictments were not made public in February, as it was hoped that Haniyya and the other defendants would be arrested. By concealing the charges, they also wanted to prevent the accused from hiding. After Haniyya’s death, however, the ministry decided there was no longer any reason to keep the charges secret.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the indictments now being released are just one part of the crackdown on Hamas.
“These actions will not be the last,” Garland said.
Hamas has been classified as a terrorist organization in the United States since 1997.
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