U.S. prosecutors have charged a Louisiana man with participating in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, newly released court documents show.
Mahmoud Amin Yaqub al-Muhtadi, 33, allegedly armed himself and joined a militant group that fought alongside Hamas in the 2023 attack that left about 1,200 people killed and about 250 taken hostage.
Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 67,900 people since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
A year after the attack, Mr. al-Muhtadi allegedly traveled to the United States on a fake visa and became a permanent resident there.
He was charged with providing, attempting to provide, or conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, as well as fraud and misuse of a visa or other documents.
Mr. al-Muhtadi was allegedly a member of the National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to a complaint filed by the FBI.
He is accused of arranging for a “group of armed militants” to cross into Israel after learning of the attack and asking one man to “bring the rifles,” court documents show.
Prosecutors said Mr. al-Muhtadi sent messages asking for a bulletproof vest for another person and ammunition.
Hours after the attack began on Oct. 7, his phone rang on a cell tower near Kibbutz Kfar Azah, where the massacre took place, the documents say.
The complaint says Mr. al-Muhtadi denied involvement in terrorist activities in his U.S. visa application.
After coming to the United States, he lived in several places before landing in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he worked at a local restaurant.
He was arrested Thursday, the Justice Department said.
During a court appearance in Louisiana on Friday, he was asked if he understood the charges against him. The translator translated his answer as: “Yes, but there are many things mentioned here that are so false that I am innocent,” the New York Times reports.
The documents do not accuse al-Muhtadi of specific crimes or murders. Federal prosecutors have previously indicted senior Hamas members with the death of American citizens on October 7.
