Hamas Leaders Charged: Week in a Nutshell, 9/6/24

September 6, 2024

Hamas Leaders Charged: Week in a Nutshell, 9/6/24

Yahya Sinwar, head of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, waves his hand to the crowd during the celebration of International Quds Day in Gaza City. (Photo by Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Here is some of the legal news making the headlines this week:

The Department of Justice announced terrorism and murder charges against six Hamas leaders for planning and carrying out the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel.

Among those charged are Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh, who was recently assassinated in Iran. The charges involve conduct dating back to the 1990s and include conspiracy to support and finance terrorism, conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The charges, initially filed in February, were unsealed on Tuesday. At a press conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “The Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists, led by these defendants, murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians.”
Garland also said DOJ is investigating the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American whom Hamas killed in the past week. His murder followed nearly 11 months of captivity by Hamas. Garland continued, “We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of Hamas’ brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism. The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”

The Supreme Court permitted the Biden administration to withhold federal funds from the state of Oklahoma for failing to comply with a statute that requires states to provide abortion-related services.

Under Title X of the Public Health Service Act of 1970, the federal government provides funding to states for family planning and preventative care services. As a condition of those grants, states must provide pregnant patients with information and counseling about, among other things, prenatal care, delivery, foster care, adoption, and abortion. They are also required to provide referrals upon patient request, including abortion referrals. States are prohibited from using these funds for abortions.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Oklahoma’s near-total abortion ban went into effect. The Oklahoma law also makes it a crime to provide abortion-related advice to someone. The federal Department of Health and Human Services rescinded Oklahoma’s grant after the state refused to comply with the federal law. Oklahoma subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking to compel HHS to provide the funds.
Without explanation, the justices sided with the Biden administration and rejected Oklahoma’s effort to reinstate the grant while litigation continues. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch indicated that they would have granted Oklahoma’s request.