Six senior leaders of Hamas, including the militant group’s political head Yahya Sinwar, were charged with terrorism and other crimes in connection with the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Other members of the group charged in the indictment include Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammad al-Masri, Marwan Issa, Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka. They were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and other alleged crimes.
In a news release, the Department of Justice identified the defendants as senior leaders of Hamas who have played a key role in overseeing a decadeslong campaign of terrorism, including on Oct. 7.
“Hamas, led by these defendants, committed its most violent, large-scale attack to date” on that day, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement.
Sinwar, who has led Hamas in Gaza since roughly 2017, became the group’s political leader earlier this month after Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran.