Man who fought for Hamas in October 7 attack fled to US and lived in Louisiana, FBI alleges | FBI
The FBI has charged a Louisiana resident with participating in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, then lying about his past and fraudulently obtaining a visa to live in the United States.
According to the FBI’s recently released criminal complaint, during the attack that killed more than 1,200 people, Mahmoud Amin Ya’kub al-Muhtadi armed himself and gathered a group to cross from the Gaza Strip to southern Israel.
During the raid, Hamas fighters kidnapped more than 250 people, including dozens of US citizens. On October 13, Hamas released the 20 surviving hostages after the two sides agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Palestine.
Al-Muhtadi was an operative of the Gaza-based military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to the complaint prepared by FBI supervisory special agent Alexandria M Thoman O’Donnell and submitted to a federal judge on October 6. O’Donnell serves on the task force investigating the killings and kidnappings of American citizens during the October 7 attack.
The complaint stated that al-Muhtadi denied involvement in terrorist activities on his US visa application and was granted legal permanent residence in 2024.
The complaint states that the agent requested an arrest warrant for al-Muhtadi on Oct. 6, but does not specify when or where he was taken into custody. The complaint says he could face charges of visa fraud and conspiracy to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Inmate records show that someone with the same name and age was being held at the reformatory in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, near Lafayette. He was scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday.
An attorney for al-Muhtadi was not identified in federal court filings. The FBI declined to provide further details to The Associated Press, citing the government shutdown.
Al-Muhtadi’s social media and email accounts revealed years of involvement with a Hamas-affiliated paramilitary group, including providing firearms training, according to the FBI.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, after Hamas forces attacked Israel, Hamas’s then military commander, Mohammed Deif, called for “the masses” to join.
According to phone calls reviewed by the FBI, Al-Muhtadi told his colleagues to “get ready” and “bring the guns” and that “there is a kidnapping going on and this will be a good game.” He also asked a co-worker to bring ammunition.
The FBI said al-Muhtadi was coordinating an armed group to travel to Israel and that during the attack, his phone pinged a cell tower near Kfar Aza, an Israeli village where dozens of residents were killed and about 19 people were kidnapped.
In June 2024, al-Muhtadi applied for an electronic US visa in Cairo. In the application, he denied serving in any paramilitary organization or being involved in terrorist activities. In his application, he said he planned to live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and work “in auto repair or food service.” It entered the US in September 2024.
The FBI said Al-Muhtadi lived in Tulsa until May but moved to Lafayette in early June, where he worked at a local restaurant.
An unidentified FBI agent met with al-Muhtadi repeatedly in Lafayette from July to September of this year.
A friend advised al-Muhtadi not to contact anyone from the paramilitary group because he was under U.S. surveillance and to avoid making posts supporting Hamas on social media. The FBI said al-Muhtadi could publish anything he wanted, including photos of Hamas leaders, and he would be safe.
