A Gazan man residing in Lafayette, Louisiana, Mahmoud Amin Ya’Qub Al-Muhtadi, has been arrested following his alleged involvement in the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.
Al-Muhtadi is an operative for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s (DFLP) military arm, the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), which is also known as the Martyr Umar al-Qasim Forces, a group that was involved in the terrorist attack alongside Hamas.
Following the attack, Al-Muhtadi allegedly provided false information in his U.S. visa application pertaining to his involvement with a paramilitary entity and a terrorist attack. He entered the United States in September 2024.
“As a result of that false application, Al-Muhtadi was able to obtain permission to travel to the United States and obtain Legal Permanent Resident status,” the complaint states.
Al-Muhtadi’s presence in the United States was discovered in February 2025 through the work of a task force dedicated to identifying and prosecuting individuals connected to October 7.
“After hiding out in the United States, this monster has been found and charged with participating in the atrocities of October 7 — the single deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “While nothing can fully heal the scars left by Hamas’s brutal attack, this Department’s Joint Task Force October 7 is dedicated to finding and prosecuting those responsible for that horrific day, including the murder of dozens of American citizens. We will continue to stand by Jewish Americans and Jewish people around the world against anti-Semitism and terrorism in all its forms.”
