For the first time since the October 7 attacks, the DOJ is charging Hamas leaders for the massacre in Israel.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militant leaders were charged in a New York federal court yesterday with conspiracy to finance foreign terrorism, conspiracy to murder US citizens and providing material aid for terrorism.
Iran and Lebanon-sponsored Hezbollah members were also accused of “providing financial support, weapons, including rockets, and military supplies to Hamas for use in attacks,” the AP reports.
However, these actions are believed to be primarily symbolic, as Sinwar is supposedly hiding in tunnels in Gaza. The DOJ also said that half of the militant leaders are presumed to be dead.
However, US officials are saying that the charges are part of a broader effort to reign in Hamas, which has been on the US terror watch group list since 1997.