FBI says a Louisiana resident assisted Hamas and lied on his US visa application

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The FBI has accused a Louisiana resident of participating in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, then lying about his past and fraudulently obtaining a visa to live in the U.S.

According to an FBI criminal complaint unsealed this week, Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi armed himself and gathered a group to cross from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel during the attack that left more than 1,200 people dead.

Hamas fighters also kidnapped more than 250 people, including dozens of American citizens, during the raid. This week, Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages after the two sides agreed to a tenuous ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

Al-Muhtadi was an operative of the Gaza-based military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to the complaint prepared by FBI Supervisory Special Agent Alexandria M. Thoman O’Donnell and submitted to a federal judge on Oct. 6. O’Donnell serves in a task force investigating the murder and kidnapping of American citizens during the attack two years ago.

On his U.S. visa application, Al-Muhtadi denied he had ever been involved in terrorist activities, and became a legal permanent resident in 2024, the complaint says.

The complaint says the agent requested an arrest warrant for Al-Muhtadi Oct. 6, but does not specify when and where he was taken into custody. The complaint says he could face charges for visa fraud and for conspiring to provide support for a foreign terrorist organization.

Inmate records show someone with the same name and age is being held at St. Martin Parish Correctional Center, near Lafayette. He was scheduled to appear in federal court Friday morning.

No attorney was identified for Al-Muhtadi in federal court filings. The FBI declined to provide more details to The Associated Press, citing the government shutdown.

Al-Muhtadi’s social media and email accounts revealed a yearslong affiliation with a Hamas-aligned paramilitary group, including carrying out firearms training, according to the FBI.

On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas forces attacked Israel, the then-military commander of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, called for “the masses” to join in.

Al-Muhtadi told his associates to “get ready” and “bring the rifles,” and that “there is kidnapping, and it’s a game, which will be a good one,” according to phone calls reviewed by the FBI. He also asked an associate to bring ammunition.

The FBI says Al-Muhtadi coordinated an armed group to travel into Israel and that during the attack his phone pinged a cell tower near Kfar Aza, an Israeli village where dozens of residents were killed and approximately 19 kidnapped.

In June 2024, Al-Muhtadi submitted an electronic U.S. visa application in Cairo. In the application, he denied serving in any paramilitary organization or having ever engaged in terrorist activities. His application said he intended to live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and work in “car repairs or food services.” He entered the U.S. in September 2024.

Al-Muhtadi lived in Tulsa through May but by early June had relocated to Lafayette, where he worked for a local restaurant, the FBI says.

An unidentified FBI agent repeatedly met with Al-Muhtadi in Lafayette from July to September this year.

An associate advised Al-Muhtadi not to contact anyone from the paramilitary group because he was under surveillance in the U.S. and to avoid posting on social media in support of Hamas. The FBI says Al-Muhtadi responded that he could post whatever he wanted, including pictures of Hamas leaders, and he would be safe.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.