Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, 33, a Gazan native currently residing in Lafayette, Louisiana, was arrested yesterday for his alleged involvement in the Hamas-led terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the US Department of Justice said in its press release dated 17th October. While Attorney General Pamela Bondi spoke tall words about standing with the Jewish community which was brutalised on the 7th of October 2023, USA is now providing special Sharia compliant treatment to the terrorist, involved in the killing of 60 Jews, mainly from Kfar Aza – one of the worst hit Kibutz bordering Gaza in Israel.
“After hiding out in the United States, this monster has been found and charged with participating in the atrocities of October 7 — the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “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. We will continue to stand by Jewish Americans and Jewish people around the world against anti-Semitism and terrorism in all its forms.”
“As set forth in documents filed yesterday, on October 7, when Al-Muhtadi learned of the unfolding barbaric attack on Israel and civilians from multiple nations, including the United States, he sprang into action. He armed himself, recruited additional marauders, and then entered Israel, where there is evidence placing him near one of the worst-hit Israeli communities,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg as revealed in a press release dated 17th October. “Subsequently, Al-Muhtadi fraudulently obtained a visa to enter the United States where he hoped to remain undetected. This arrest is the first public step in bringing to justice those responsible for harming Americans on that day.”
While the Department of Justice spoke about holding Hamas terrorists responsible for the massacre, it has now been revealed that while being jailed in Louisiana, the Hamas terrorist has been granted religious accomodation per his request.
On Friday, according to a New York Post report, Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi requested the court to order the US Marshals to grant him religious accomodation and allow him to practice his religious duties while jailed. It is pertinent to note that Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi not only participated in the atrocities in Israel, but also lied on his US Visa Application, denying his involvement in the 7th October massacre.
The Hamas terrorist has requested the court to provide Halal diet, allow him to fast and carry out his religious duties while incarcerated.
The court ceded to the request of the accused saying, “The US Marshalls shall accommodate the defendant to the extent that they can reasonably do so”. The court also asked the lawyer of the terrorist to keep in touch with the US Marshals to evaluate their ability to fulfil these demands.
Who is Mahmoud Amin Ya’Qub Al-Muhtadi and what was his involvement in the 7th October massacre
Mahmoud Amin Ya’Qub Al-Muhtadi lived in Gaza at the time. He had taken part on the 7th October massacre, taking part in the slaughter of 60 people living in the Kfar Aza kibbutz in Israel. Before the 7th October massacre, he had happily told one of his fellow terrorists that the massacre would spark a “third world war”, according to the criminal complaint filed.
The New York Post report says, “Al-Muhtadi, who led youths in the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), a military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), heard a call to arms by Hamas commander Mohammed Deif that tragic day and started rallying a group of men to join him in an ambush on the close by kibbutz, the feds claimed”.
The complaint has also revealed that in the Kfar Aza Kibbutz alone, 60 people were murdered and 19 were kidnapped. Among the murdered, 4 were American citizens. Among the 19 captured from Kfar Aza, one was an American citizen.
Cellphone data places Al-Muhtadi at Kfaz Aza on the fateful morning. He had also instructed his fellow terrorists before the massacre to bring their rifles, bullet proof vests and ammunitions.
In a call on the 7th October morning with another terrorist, Al-Muhtadi said: “There is lots [sic] of soldiers [Israel Defense Forces soldiers] that have been kidnapped … it’s a game, which will be a good one”, according to the New York Post report.
“If things go the way they should, Syria will take part, Lebanon will take part … it’s going to be a third world war … it will be a war of attritions. That will be perfect,” he said during the call, according to the complaint.
Less than a year after the terrorist attack, Al-Muhtadi migrated to the US. In his visa application, he had claimed that he was not a part of any terrorist group, had never murdered anyone or participated in any criminal activity – a clear lie. He moved to the USA in September 2024 – less than a year after the massacre.
It is pertinent to note that Hamas considers it a religious duty to annihilate Jews and occupy Israel. The Hamas Charter, adopted in 1988, outlines Hamas’s ideological standpoint regarding Israel, Palestine, and the larger conflict between Jews and Muslims. One of the key assertions in the charter is that all of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, is considered Waqf land that belongs exclusively to Muslims.
Hamas also called for the slaughtering of Jews and asserted that the “Judgment Day” would not come until the Muslims fight and kill the Jews. To back its call to violence, Hamas cites references to the Islamic text.
“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him,” Article 7 of the Hamas Charter reads.
Notably, the Islamic verse mentioned in Hamas Charter’s Article 7 is taken from Sahih Al Bukhari (a collection of Hadith and book of Sunnah) which reads: “The hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them, until the Jew hides behind the stones and trees and the stones or trees say, ‘O Muslim, O servant of Allah, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
The Hamas Charter also portrays Jews as deserving only humiliation and a miserable existence. A full breakdown of the Islamic ideological foundation of Hamas can be read here.
