The U.S. Department of Justice announced multiple criminal charges against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and five other living and deceased senior Hamas officials on Sept. 3 for alleged terrorist activity from the 1990s to the present day.
The DOJ said Meshaal, also known as Abu al-Waleed, served as a chairman within Hamas’s political bureau from 2004 to 2017 and now deals with Hamas diaspora affairs beyond the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. U.S. officials believe he currently resides in Qatar.
According to the DOJ, Baraka oversees Hamas’s national relations abroad and resides in Lebanon.
The three remaining Hamas defendants are either confirmed or widely believed to be dead.
The DOJ said that Issa, another Gaza-based commander in the Qassam Brigades, was killed on March 10.
The indictment lays out an overlapping series of conspiracies from 1997 onward to promote terrorism and kill U.S. nationals. The charges include conspiracy to provide material and financial support for terrorism, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, conspiracy to bomb a place resulting in death, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction resulting in death, and sanctions evasion.
“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday. “These actions will not be our last.”
Garland took the opportunity to note the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American citizen captured by Hamas during its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Goldberg-Polin was among six deceased hostages whose remains Israeli forces found in Hamas tunnels over the weekend during operations in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
Garland vowed U.S. authorities would investigate Goldberg-Polin’s death, and all other Hamas killings targeting Americans, as acts of terrorism.
Negotiations continue on an agreement to win the release of hostages still held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel and an end to the fighting in Gaza.
Hamas took around 250 captives during the Oct. 7 attack—117 of these hostages have returned alive, including 105 following a November exchange, and others through subsequent Israeli rescue operations. Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of 37 other Hamas captives. Around 100 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity.
Hamas has offered to release all hostages in return for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release of a large number of Palestinians held by Israel, including high-profile militants. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to defeat and eliminate Hamas and prevent the Gaza Strip from becoming a resurgent threat to Israeli national security.
Protests within Israel grew this week, urging Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire deal with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining Hamas captives. Thus far, the Israeli leader has rebuffed the internal pressure to end the war on terms that could allow Hamas to retain power within the Gaza Strip and rearm.
