The US has charged Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and several other prominent figures in the Palestinian group in connection with its deadly attack in Israel on 7 October last year.
The justice department said it was indicting six Hamas members with seven charges, including the murder of US citizens, conspiracy to finance terrorism and use of weapons of mass destruction.
The criminal complaint covers decades of alleged attacks by Hamas, as well as the unprecedented assault on southern Israel nearly a year ago.
It is the first step by US law enforcement to hold accountable the ringleaders of the 7 October attack, though up to three of those named in the indictment are dead and Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels somewhere under Gaza.
In a video statement on Tuesday, Mr Garland said the defendants were responsible for “financing and directing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the security of the United States”.
The group also “led Hamas’s efforts to destroy the state of Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim”.
He noted the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, in which the group “murdered entire families” in “the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust”.
“They murdered the elderly and they murdered young children. They weaponised sexual violence against women, including rape and genital mutilation.”
He added that during the attack the group “murdered over 1,200 people” and “perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust”.
Other Hamas leaders charged include former leader Ismail Haniyeh; Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of the organisation’s armed wing; Khaled Mashaal, who leads the group outside Gaza and the West Bank; along with Mohammed Deif and Ali Baraka.
The charges include conspiracy to bomb a place of public use resulting in death, conspiracy to finance terrorism and material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death
