LA Local Accused of Assisting Hamas in 7 October Assault on Israel, American Prosecutors Allege
US prosecutors have charged a LA resident of participating in the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel, according to recently revealed court documents.
Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub al-Muhtadi, thirty-three, reportedly equipped him and joined a paramilitary group that engaged together with the organization during the 2023's incursion that killed over a thousand Israeli citizens, sparking 24 months of conflict that resulted in the deaths of many additional individuals.
A year following the incident, he supposedly journeyed to the United States on a fake visa and became a permanent resident.
Mr al-Muhtadi was charged with supplying, attempting to furnish or plotting to deliver material support to a designated terror group and the deception and improper use of a travel document or other documents.
Reported Role with Militant Faction
The defendant was allegedly an operative of the NRB, the armed branch of the DFLP, as stated in the complaint filed by the FBI.
He is charged of organizing a "group of militants" to cross into Israel after learning about the raid and asked one man to "bring the firearms", legal documents indicate.
Mr al-Muhtadi dispatched messages asking others to bring a bulletproof vest for a different individual and ammunition, authorities allege.
A short time after the October 7 assault started, his phone connected to a cell tower near the kibbutz, the location of a massacre, the documents stated.
Judicial Process and Response
The legal document said that Mr al-Muhtadi denied ever having been engaged in acts of terror on his US visa application.
After coming to the US, he lived in a few of locations before landing in the Louisiana city, where he was employed in a local eatery.
He was taken into custody on Thursday, the Justice Department announced.
During a hearing in Louisiana on the following day, he was asked if he comprehended the allegations facing him, an translator translated his response as "affirmative, but there are a lot of points mentioned in this document that are so false, I'm innocent", as reported by reports.
The court filings do not charge the defendant of specific offenses or killings. Federal prosecutors have previously indicted high-ranking members of the group with the deaths of US citizens on 7 October.
