WASHINGTON: The United States Justice Department has announced criminal charges against several leaders of Hamas over their roles in the October 7 assault in Israel. Six leaders, three of whom are dead, were named in the complaint unsealed on Tuesday. The dead defendants are former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in July in Tehran; Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an Israel attack on Gaza in July; and Marwan Issa.
The living defendants are Hamas’s new head Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be in the Gaza Strip; Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Doha, Qatar; and Ali Baraka, a senior Hamas leader based in Lebanon.
“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 Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed in a statement.
American prosecutors brought charges against the six individuals in February, but kept the complaint under seal in hopes of arresting Ismaail Haniyeh, the Reuters reported. Following Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran in an assassination blamed on Israel, the Justice Department took the decision to go public with the charges, according to the Reuters.
The development comes as the White House says it is developing a new truce and captive agreement proposal with its Qatari and Egyptian counterparts to try to bring an end to the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip.
War on Gaza
Since October 7, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 40,819 Palestinians, mostly women and children, Gaza’s health ministry said. The UN has reported severe humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, with widespread displacement and the recent emergence of polio cases. In response to these dire conditions, several countries have increased their calls for a truce. The United Kingdom has suspended some arms exports to Israel, citing concerns over potential breaches of global humanitarian law.
On the ground in Gaza, the situation remains terrible as Israeli air strikes continue to target various locations, including a college and a displacement camp, causing further casualties. In the West Bank, Israeli military offensive continue, with recent raids and attacks resulting in the deaths of at least 27 Palestinians, the Palestinian health ministry said.
