The United States announced on Tuesday the formation of several criminal charges against the new head of the Palestinian independence organization Hamas, Yahya Sinwar. He has been accused of planning, supporting and carrying out the group's unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
In addition to Yahya Sinwar, at least five Hamas leaders have been charged with carrying out the attack. Israel claims that 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, were killed in the attack.
To avenge the attack on October 7, the Israeli forces have started rampaging in the Gaza Strip of Palestine since that day. The Gaza Ministry of Health said that more than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed in their attacks so far. Most of the dead were women and children. In addition, countless people were injured in the attack.
Three of the six indicted Hamas leaders were killed. Among the three leaders who are alive, besides Sinwar, the other two are Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka. Hamas chief Sinwar is believed to be in Gaza. Khaled Meshaal lives in Doha, Qatar and heads the Hamas foreign wing. And senior Hamas official Ali Baraka lives in Lebanon.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the defendants "armed, supported and financed the government of Iran and, with the cooperation of Hezbollah, led Hamas' efforts to achieve its goals of destroying Israel and killing civilians."
Three of the six Hamas leaders were killed. Among the three leaders who are alive, besides Sinwar, the other two are Khaled Meshaal and Ali Baraka. Hamas chief Sinwar is believed to be in Gaza. Khaled Meshaal lives in Doha, Qatar and heads the Hamas foreign wing. And senior Hamas official Ali Baraka lives in Lebanon.
And the three leaders who died are the former head of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, the former head of the organization's military branch, Mohammad Deif, and sub-military commander Marwan Isa. Haniya was killed in an attack in Tehran, Iran last July. Israel said Deif was killed in an airstrike in July. Earlier in March, Marwan was killed in another Israeli attack.
Iran blames Israel for killing Ismail Haniya. Although they did not accept the responsibility of this incident.
According to a US Justice Department official, prosecutors filed charges against the six leaders last February. However, the allegations were not made public in the hope of catching Haniya red-handed. After Haniya was killed, the judiciary decided to proceed with the complaint.
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