A Palestinian man who took part in the October 7 massacre in Israel has been indicted in Louisiana for entering the US using a fraudulent visa. The federal indictment, unsealed Thursday and reported by The New York Times, charges Mahmoud Amin Yaqub al-Muhtadi with aiding a foreign terrorist organization and visa fraud.
According to court documents, al-Muhtadi is described as an operative with an armed cell from Gaza that fought alongside Hamas during the October 7 attack. He is accused of organizing squads of gunmen who infiltrated southern Israel immediately after the initial wave of violence.
The indictment, filed on October 6 in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, was signed by senior FBI agent Alexandria M. Thoman O'Donnell. Al-Muhtadi, 33, is currently being held at the St. Martin Parish Correctional Center near Lafayette, Louisiana, where he had been living.
He is scheduled to appear before a judge. It is not yet clear whether he has legal representation. The New York Times reported that al-Muhtadi is believed to be one of the first low-level fighters to be charged in the US with direct involvement in the October 7 assault, following earlier indictments of senior Hamas officials.
According to the complaint, the FBI obtained recordings of al-Muhtadi's phone calls from the morning of the attack. In one call, he is heard telling another participant, "Be ready, the borders are open." In another, he urges the delivery of weapons and bulletproof vests. His phone, using Gaza's Jawwal network, reportedly pinged an Israeli cell tower that morning. The indictment states that at least 60 people, including US citizens, were murdered in the vicinity at that time.
The documents further note that al-Muhtadi was affiliated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and its armed wing, the National Resistance Brigades, which had been fighting alongside Hamas since the start of the war. This information was reportedly corroborated by Israeli intelligence and photos from his social media accounts.
According to the federal complaint, al-Muhtadi applied for a US immigration visa on June 26, 2024, identifying himself as Mahmoud al-Muhtadi, a resident of Cairo, and claimed he had never served in any armed group. He stated he was born in Gaza in 1991 and remained there until March 2024. These details align with prison records in Louisiana.
He entered the US via Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on September 12, 2024. The FBI said that by spring 2025, he was living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and had posted photos online of himself and his children holding a Glock pistol. In June, he was located in Louisiana, where he was reportedly working at a restaurant, and was arrested.
