Palestinians take control of an Israeli tank after crossing the border fence from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 7, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
US prosecutors allege that Al-Muhtadi took up arms, galvanized recruits, and invaded Israel from Gaza shortly after Hamas fighters breached the border.
By Corey Walker, The Algemeiner
US federal prosecutors have accused a Palestinian man from Gaza who has been residing in Louisiana of taking part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
The Justice Department announced on Friday that Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, 33, who had been living in Lafayette, Louisiana, after entering the US illegally, was arrested and charged with visa fraud and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court on Thursday, Al-Muhtadi was a terrorist for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a terrorist group that collaborated with Hamas during the Oct. 7 assault.
Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages while perpetrating widespread sexual violence during their rampage through southern Israeli communities.
US prosecutors allege that Al-Muhtadi took up arms, galvanized recruits, and invaded Israel from Gaza shortly after Hamas fighters breached the border.
Phone records cited by federal authorities place him near Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the Israeli communities devastated during the attacks.
After the massacre, prosecutors say, Al-Muhtadi secured a visa to enter the United States in June 2024 and allegedly misled authorities on his application by denying any connection to terrorist organizations or participation in the Oct. 7 operation. He entered the United States in September 2024 and lived in Lafayette before being apprehended.
“After hiding out in the United States, this monster has been found and charged with participating in the atrocities of Oct. 7 — the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Attorney General Pamela 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.”
The investigation was led by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and a special interagency unit known as Joint Task Force 10-7, created earlier this year to investigate threats and crimes connected to the Oct. 7 attacks. American citizens were among those both killed and taken hostage.
The DFLP was previously designated by the US State Department as a foreign terrorist organization but was later removed after its activity declined. The group has recently reemerged in Gaza, fighting alongside Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad against Israeli forces.
If convicted, Al-Muhtadi faces up to 25 years in federal prison.
The Trump administration has moved to tighten the US visa system amid concerns about extremist infiltration. Officials have expanded vetting to include detailed reviews of applicants’ online activity and potential ties to antisemitic or anti-American movements.
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