Illegal immigrant Mahmoud living in Lafayette Louisiana charged in the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2025 8:14 am
- Mahmoud Amin Ya'qub Al-Muhtadi.jpeg (25.24 KiB) Viewed 58 times
LOUISIANA - An illegal immigrant living in Louisiana allegedly participated in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Federal prosecutors say 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.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, Al-Muhtadi was a high-ranking member of the Gaza-based terrorist group Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine - which worked hand-in-hand with Hamas during the attack.
'Evidence shows that on the morning of October 7, 2023, Al-Muhtadi learned about the Hamas invasion, armed himself, gathered others and crossed into Israel with the intention of assisting in Hamas's terrorist attack,' the criminal complaint says.
But when he later applied for a visa to the United States, Al-Muhtadi denied he had ever been involved in terrorist activities - and he became a legal permanent resident in 2024.
Al-Muhtadi was most recently living in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he worked at a restaurant prior to his arrest on Thursday.