It has taken nearly a year, but Attorney General Merrick Garland is finally stepping up to charge Hamas for the atrocities committed against Israel on October 7, 2023.
On Tuesday, the DOJ unsealed criminal charges against Yahya Sinwar as well as other leaders of Hamas.
Talking Points…
- The attack
- The complaint
- Analysis
The events that took place on October 7 were horrific. Without instigation, Hamas crossed the border into Israel and conducted a full-fledged attack against noncombatants, which included women and children. Hundreds of people were slaughtered, children's heads were chopped off, hostages were taken, and young women were raped, murdered, and paraded through the city.
It did not take Israel long to show the horrors committed by Hamas, but some politicians in this country chose to call it disinformation, literally sticking up for Hamas over Israel. Several of them will no longer be serving at the end of this term, thanks to voters kicking them out during their primary races.
Hamas then continued the atrocities, hiding among civilians in the hopes that Israel would not attack rather than risk civilian casualties. Then Hamas had a mishap with a missile, which struck a civilian target, but it tried to blame the attack on Israel, a lie that was again repeated by numerous politicians here in the United States. Eventually, the truth came out, but we still had nothing from our government regarding the atrocities that had been committed against US citizens who were killed or taken by Hamas during the initial stages of the conflict.
Now, here we are, roughly 11 months after the horrific attack, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has finally got around to charging Hamas for its crimes against Americans. Garland introduced the charges on Tuesday, patting himself on the back for something that should have been done months ago.
At his press conference, Garland stated:
"The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas' operations
"These actions will not be our last. The Justice Department has a long memory. We will pursue the terrorists responsible for murdering Americans – and those who illegally provide them with material support – for the rest of their lives."
The charges come just days after Israel Defense Forces announced that they had recovered the bodies of six more hostages that were killed by Hamas, apparently on purpose. Reports surfaced that Hamas had released videos of the hostages just before they were killed. Among the hostages that were recovered was 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
From the reports that I have read regarding a possible cease-fire agreement, Sinwar has requested that his not being killed be part of the agreement, and with the charges against him here in the United States, I am not sure that is even on the table, as prosecutors here would surely request the death penalty against him if they were able to get their hands on him.
So, as noted above, the question now becomes if this is all for show or if our DOJ really plans on actively pursuing these individuals to hold them accountable. Only time will tell on that front. But, being totally honest, with the heat that the Biden administration has been taking from pro-Palestine supporters, I was shocked to see Garland present charges. It will be very interesting to see how this is perceived by the far left in the party that despises Israel.
