The Justice Department announced on Friday that a “Gazan native” living in Louisiana was arrested in connection with Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel.
Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al Muhtadi, 33, was detained on Thursday for his alleged involvement in the terrorist group’s assault on an Israeli music festival two years ago. Roughly 1,200 civilians, including 49 U.S. citizens, were murdered in the massacre, which triggered Israel’s war in Gaza.
The DOJ said that before entering the United States on an allegedly fraudulent visa, Muhtadi armed himself, gathered cohorts, and crossed into Israel on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, with the intention of assisting the terrorist attack after learning about the Hamas invasion. Muhtadi’s phone utilized a cell tower located near Kfar Aza in Israel, the location of a massacre by Hamas resulting in the deaths of many civilians, including at least four U.S. citizens, according to court documents.
“After hiding out in the United States, this monster has been found and charged with participating in the atrocities of October 7 — the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
“While nothing can fully heal the scars left by Hamas’s brutal attack, this Department’s Joint Task Force October 7 is dedicated to finding and prosecuting those responsible for that horrific day, including the murder of dozens of American citizens. We will continue to stand by Jewish Americans and Jewish people around the world against anti-Semitism and terrorism in all its forms,” she added.
Muhtadi is accused of being an operative for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s military wing and the National Resistance Brigades, also known as the Martyr Omar al-Qassem Forces, a Gaza-based paramilitary group that participated in the 2023 attack, according to the complaint.
After allegedly participating in the terrorist attack, Muhtadi entered the U.S. in September 2024, according to data from federal agencies. He is accused of providing false information in his U.S. visa application relating to his affiliation with DFLP, the NRB, and Hamas, his training, and his involvement in the 2023 attack.
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The DOJ said Muhtadi’s presence in the U.S. was discovered by Joint Task Force October 7, or JTF 10-7. Bondi established the task force in February to spearhead the DOJ’s investigations into the perpetrators of the massacre.
Muhtadi’s arrest comes just days after the U.S. brokered a deal ending the two-year war in Gaza triggered by the 2023 attack he is accused of participating in.
