First Thing: US charges Hamas leaders with terrorism and pushes for ‘final’ truce

The Justice Department announced terrorism charges against six Hamas leaders including Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack against Israel.

The other defendants named in the criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan are Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammad al-Masri, Marwan Issa, Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka. Three of the defendants—Haniyeh, Issa and Masri, who is also known as Mohammed Deif—have been killed in recent months.

The Hamas leaders face seven counts, including conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, conspiracy to bomb a place of public use resulting in death.

A DOJ official said in a statement on background that the charges were filed under seal on Feb. 1, in order to be ready to take Haniyeh into custody if needed. But after Haniyeh’s death and other recent developments in the region, the seal was no longer necessary, the official said.

“Today, the Justice Department unsealed charges against Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing and directing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the security of the United States,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement. “The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”

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Garland mentioned the recent news that six hostages held by Hamas, including U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, had been killed.

He said the Justice Department is investigating Goldberg-Polin’s murder, as well as the killings of other Americans by Hamas.

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