A Palestinian man who entered the US illegally has been arrested for participating in the October 7, 2023, terrorist invasion of Israel, according to a criminal complaint released on Thursday.
Federal prosecutors said that Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, 33, assembled a team of armed terrorists and crossed into Israel to join the attack at the behest of Hamas, and later lied on his visa application to enter the US.
Muhtadi was arrested earlier this month in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he had been living after entering the US in September 2024. He is being held in a jail in the area.
Muhtadi is a member of Gaza-based terror group the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the National Resistance Brigades, according to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent earlier this month. The complaint was unsealed on Thursday at the order of a federal judge.
The criminal charges were partially based on information provided to the US by Israel.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, members of Hamas’s Nukhba unit led the invasion of Israel. Around an hour later, Hamas leader Muhammed Deif announced the operation and invited “the masses” to join the attack, telling them to “kill [Israelis] wherever you overtake them.”
“Everyone who has a rifle, take it out, as now is the time. And whoever doesn’t have a rifle, take out your machete, your axe, your hatchet,” Deif said in a statement, according to the complaint.
Muhtadi found out about the attack at 6:34 a.m. that morning on social media, minutes after the invasion began. At 8:12 a.m., shortly after Deif’s announcement, he told others he would join the attack.
Referring to Deif’s message, he coordinated a group of terrorists to join him. By 9:33 a.m., his group had crossed the border, and around 30 minutes later, his cell phone connected to a service tower near Kibbutz Kfar Aza, indicating he was inside Israel.
Mourners at a ceremony marking the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, October 7, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Kfar Aza was one of the communities hit hardest in the onslaught. During the attack, some 250 terrorists swarmed the unsuspecting community of around 950 residents. The attackers took over the village in an hour, killing 62 residents and 18 security personnel, and taking 19 civilians hostage.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is an offshoot of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The latter’s military wing, the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), has participated in dozens of terrorist attacks, including the 1974 Ma’alot massacre that killed more than 20 children.
The group coordinates with Hamas and openly participated in the October 2023 Hamas attack, posting online that its members had crossed into Israel. The day after, the group said its fighters had attacked Kfar Aza, Be’eri and Kissufim.
Investigators found messages on Muhtadi’s phone showing himself holding weapons and wearing an NRB headband.
Muhtadi also sent images of a document showing that he had a weapon and ammunition that were “property of the National Resistance Brigades,” and sent photos of himself with other armed NRB members. In the messages, he referred to the group as his “young men,” indicating that he was a senior figure in the group, prosecutors said.
Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, alleged October 7 participant and member of the DFLP terrorist organization’s National Resistance Brigades, arrested in Louisiana, USA ???????? pic.twitter.com/4KmLSh4Aqd
— Aleph א (@no_itsmyturn) October 17, 2025
He also boasted about attacking a military outpost in Israel in 2021, saying in a message, “I swear by God, we burned them!”
Investigators recovered recorded phone calls from October 7 in which Muhtadi referred to the attack, discussing Israelis celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday, which he referred to as the Jewish version of “Eid,” a Muslim holiday.
“They still haven’t awakened from the shock,” Muhtadi said, referring to Israelis. “They are still drunk, because it’s the last day of their Eid.”
In the calls, Muhtadi discussed his knowledge of the attack, his intention to join, his efforts to gather other attackers and weapons, and crossing the border into Israel, according to the complaint.
“There are lots of soldiers who have been kidnapped. Yes, it’s taking place down there. Yes, there is kidnapping, and it’s a game, which will be a good one,” he said, adding that he hoped the hostages would lead to ceasefire negotiations.
He expressed hope that Syria and Lebanon would join the war and that it would become “a third world war.”
“That will be perfect,” he said.
The entrance to the home of Sivan Elkabets and Naor Hasidim, in Kfar Aza, October 7, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
He also told his followers to “bring the rifles,” ammunition magazines and a bulletproof vest and that he had a full car ready to cross into Israel. He told another group member to “get ready” and that “the borders are open.” In a later call, he said he was inside Israel and told other attackers to turn their phones off.
The complaint did not say if Muhtadi had killed anyone.
In June 2024, Muhtadi submitted an immigrant visa application to the US Department of State. On the form, he said he was born in Gaza in 1991, lived in Gaza until March 2024, and resided in Cairo, Egypt, where he filled out the application.
In the sworn statement, he said he did not have any weapons training, had never been in a militant group, had no ties to terrorist groups and had not participated in acts of violence.
Muhtadi met with a consular official at the US embassy in Cairo in August 2024, where he swore to the accuracy of his visa application and provided fingerprints and photographs of himself.
He arrived in Dallas, Texas, in September 2024, saying he planned to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to work in car repairs or food services. He obtained an Oklahoma driver’s license.
He later posted a photo on social media that showed himself wearing a keffiyeh and loading a handgun. Other photos showed his children posing with the weapon.
The Israeli government alerted the US to Muhtadi’s participation in the attack in May 2025. The following month, FBI agents found him in Louisiana working at a restaurant and began to monitor him.
Federal prosecutors charged Muhtadi with supporting a terrorist organization and visa fraud in the federal US Western District Court of Louisiana.
Louisiana jail records showed that Muhtadi was being held in the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office Jail outside Lafayette.
