Federal prosecutors arrested a man living in Lafayette who they say participated in the October 2023 attacks on Israel and later traveled to the U.S. on an illegal visa, according to newly unsealed documents obtained by the New York Times.
Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, is accused of organizing other armed fighters in the Hamas-led attacks that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and sparked a two-year-long war in Gaza. He faces charges of supporting a terrorist organization and visa fraud.
Prosecutors alleged in the criminal complaint that in 2023, al-Muhtadi, a member of another Gaza-based paramilitary group, heard about the Hamas invasion, joined in and gathered others to assist in the attack. They say he then provided false information on his visa application relating to his involvement with a paramilitary organization.
According to an affidavit, al-Muhtadi has been a member of the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, since at least 2019. Officials alleged he is a senior member of the group and was tasked with training younger militants.
On Oct. 7, 2023, court documents show al-Muhtadi sent messages and made phone calls pertaining to the attack launched by Hamas, including instructing others in his group to gather ammunition and guns.
Prosecutors say his phone location on the day of the attack showed he was near Kibbutz Kfar Aza, an area near the Israel-Gaza border where 64 people were killed.
The documents show al-Muhtadi, who was born in Gaza, was living in Lafayette since at least May 2025, working in a local restaurant after relocating from Tusla, Oklahoma. He first arrived in the United States in September 2024.
Al-Muhtadi appeared in federal court in Lafayette on Friday morning. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Ayo read the 44-page affidavit for his arrest and an interpreter located elsewhere relayed the details to Al-Muhtadi in Arabic.
Lafayette attorney Lester Gauthier, who was representing al-Muhtadi for his initial hearing, said the 33-year-old had been living and working in Lafayette, but did not provide any further details.
“The massacre of innocent Israeli men, women, and children on October 7 was evil personified,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrell said in a prepared statement. “If what is alleged is true, this person needs to be prosecuted to the absolute fullest extent of the law. If the death penalty is available, the federal government should seek it. If state charges can be lodged, we will seek them. I continue to pray for the victims of Hamas’ evil actions that day and afterward.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to DFLP as the Domestic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The organization’s correct title is the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
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