Overview

• Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi, 33, was arrested Thursday in Lafayette, Louisiana, in a case tied to the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, according to the Justice Department.
• Court filings allege he armed himself, recruited others, and crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, with his phone connecting to a tower near Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the massacre there.
• Prosecutors say he is an operative of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s National Resistance Brigades, which U.S. officials allege took part in the attack.
• Authorities allege he obtained a U.S. visa using materially false statements and later entered the country on Sept. 12, 2024, before settling in Lafayette.
• Joint Task Force October 7 and the FBI New Orleans Field Office lead the investigation with assistance from Israeli agencies and local Louisiana law enforcement, with officials describing the arrest as the first public step toward U.S. prosecutions tied to Oct. 7.