The terrorist, who was a member of Hamas and participated in the October 7 massacre, was captured by the FBI after entering the US last year
After participating in the massacre, Al-Muhtadi applied for a U.S. visa on June 26, 2024 at the U.S. embassy located in Cairo, Egypt, falsely claiming in his application that he had no military training and had never been involved in acts of terrorism. He also swore that he had never killed anyone.
A terrorist member of the Palestinian group Hamas who participated in the October 7, 2023 massacre and murdered Israeli citizens was captured this week by the FBI while he was hiding in the state of Louisiana.
Mahmoud Amin Ya'Qub Al-Muhtadi, 33 years old, was captured on Thursday in the city of Lafayette, where he had been living and working. The terrorist had lied on his visa documents about his participation in acts of terrorism against Israel, according to information found in the court case.
Al-Muhtadi was a member of a paramilitary group linked to Hamas and when he learned about the October 7 massacre he gathered other terrorists, crossed into Israel, and murdered people who were living in the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Sixty Israelis lost their lives in that attack and nineteen were kidnapped, including four Americans.
The captured terrorist belonged to the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), a military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), where he was responsible for training young activists. A series of phone calls reviewed by authorities and the location of his cell phone place him at the crime scene.
Among those murdered in Kfar Aza that day were four Americans, including a 38-year-old woman and her husband; a 67-year-old woman and her husband; and a 22-year-old American who was serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The 3-year-old daughter of the murdered couple was captured and held hostage for fifty days by Hamas.
Former Democratic President Joe Biden's laws allowed Al-Muhtadi to emigrate for the first time to the city of Tulsa, in Oklahoma, on September 12, 2024. He planned to work in car repairs and a few days after emigrating he told his friends that he couldn't post anymore about his affiliation with Palestinian terrorism.
The FBI located the terrorist for the first time in June of this year. Authorities read him the charges he faces this morning in a federal court, among which is the attempt to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He remains detained without bail until his trial takes place and he faces life imprisonment if convicted solely on the terrorism charge.
The Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi, praised the arrest on her X platform account. "After hiding in the United States, this monster has been found and charged with participating in the atrocities of October 7, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust," Bondi said.
"While nothing can fully heal the scars left by Hamas's brutal attack, this Department's October 7 Joint Task Force is dedicated to finding and prosecuting those responsible for that horrific day, including the murder of dozens of American citizens," added the government's chief prosecutor.
