US Justice Department announces ‘JTF 10-7,’ a task force dedicated to prosecuting Oct. 7 terrorists

‘Antisemitic acts of terrorism – whether here or abroad – will never go unpunished. This task force represents our unyielding commitment to those who have suffered at the hands of these brutal terrorists,’ stated Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

A U.S. Justice Department task force will seek redress for victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in the latest Trump administration move aimed at demonstrating support for Jews and Israelis.

The task force, announced Monday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, will bring together federal attorneys and FBI agents and intelligence analysts to prosecute people who participated in the attack as well as Hamas leaders who orchestrated it. Many of those people have been killed in the subsequent war in Gaza.

The group will also “investigate acts of terrorism and civil rights violations by individuals and entities providing support and financing to Hamas, related Iran proxies, and their affiliates, as well as acts of antisemitism by these groups,” according to the department’s press release.

The Trump administration has accused campus pro-Palestinian protesters of being “aligned to Hamas.”

The announcement reflects the latest way in which the Trump administration is devoting considerable energy to showing support for U.S. Jews alarmed by the Oct. 7 attack and its aftermath in the United States.

Trump has vowed to deport non-citizen pro-Palestinian campus protesters and begun that process; has issued an executive order on antisemitism; and has opened new investigations into alleged antisemitism at colleges and medical schools.

“The victims of Hamas’s decades-long violent campaign of terrorism against Israel will always have the support of the U.S. government, and the Department will no longer permit illegal support of Hamas on our campuses and elsewhere in the homeland,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

“Antisemitic acts of terrorism – whether here or abroad – will never go unpunished. This task force represents our unyielding commitment to those who have suffered at the hands of these brutal terrorists.”