The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder US nationals and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group of providing financial support and weapons to Hamas.
The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels in Gaza and the Justice Department says three of the six defendants are believed now to be dead. But officials say additional actions are expected as part of a broader effort to target the Gaza-based group that the US designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and has been linked to a series of deadly attacks on Israel, including suicide bombings.
The complaint was originally filed under seal in February to give the US time to try to take into custody then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, but the politburo chief’s July 31 assassination along with other recent developments lessened the need for secrecy, the Justice Department said.
On Monday, former American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was laid to rest in Jerusalem two days after his body was recovered by the IDF and returned to Israel. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Goldberg-Polin was “executed” along with five other hostages, confirming the IDF’s account that the six were killed by their Hamas guards who suspected that Israeli troops were approaching. READ MORE
