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US Announces Launch of New Task Force ‘Seeking Justice’ for Oct. 7 Attack Victims
An American flag waves outside the US Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC. Photo: Al Drago via Reuters Connect
The US Justice Department on Monday announced the leadership team and members of a newly assembled task force designed to “seek justice” for victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel and to “address the ongoing threat” posed by the Palestinian terrorist group and its affiliates.
Joint Task Force October 7 (JTF 10-7) will place an emphasis on “targeting, charging, and securing for prosecution in the United States the direct perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack,” the Justice Department said in a press release announcing the initiative.
“The barbaric Hamas terrorists will not win — and there will be consequences,” US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “As attorney general, I have had the solemn honor of meeting with several families of US citizens whose loved ones were kidnapped by Hamas on that dark day. This task force will strengthen the department’s resolve to achieve justice for these families and their loved ones as we continue to fight antisemitism in all its forms.”
The task force will handle pending charges against Hamas leadership in connection to the Oct. 7 attack and other terrorist attacks, as well as bring the offenders to the United States to answer for their involvement in the massacre, according to the Justice Department. Moreover, the law enforcement body will look into acts of terrorism, human rights abuses, and antisemitism committed by those who support and finance Hamas, associated proxies of Iran, and their affiliates.
Under the supervision of the deputy attorney general, JTF 10-7 will be headed by a senior FBI special agent serving as the task force commander, an FBI intelligence analyst serving as the deputy task force commander, and a senior counterterrorism prosecutor from the Justice Department’s National Security Division (NSD). The initiative will also receive assistance from several other parts of the Justice Department.
“The victims of Hamas’s decades-long violent campaign of terrorism against Israel will always have the support of the US government, and the department will no longer permit illegal support of Hamas on our campuses and elsewhere in the homeland,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “Antisemitic acts of terrorism – whether here or abroad – will never go unpunished. This task force represents our unyielding commitment to those who have suffered at the hands of these brutal terrorists.”
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel, where they killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages into Gaza. During the onslaught, 45 Americans were murdered, and 12 were abducted.
Israel responded with a counteroffensive aimed at freeing the hostages in Gaza and degrading the terrorist group’s military capabilities.
Last September, the Biden administration’s Justice Department issued charges to former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other individuals connected to the terrorist group. Israeli forces found and killed Sinwar weeks later.
Since entering the White House in January, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly emphasized the importance of defeating Hamas and holding the leaders of the terrorist group responsible for their crimes. Last week, Trump issued a “last warning” to Hamas, demanding that the terrorist group release the remaining hostages or face death.
“Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” Trump wrote on social media. “Not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.”
Trump has also placed heavy importance on combatting domestic antisemitism, which has surged in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks. In late January, Trump signed an executive order aimed at stopping anti-Jewish discrimination on college campuses. The order in part called for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.”
Days later, the Justice Department announced the formation of a “multi-agency” Task Force to Combat Antisemitism to carry out Trump’s executive order.
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US Vetoes UN Security Council Demand for Gaza Ceasefire
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel, June 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The United States vetoed a UN Security Council demand on Wednesday for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the enclave.
“The United States has been clear we would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote.
“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground, and embolden Hamas,” she said of the text that was put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council.
The remaining 14 council members voted in favor of the draft resolution.
Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. It has renewed its military offensive in Gaza – also seeking to free hostages held by Hamas – since ending a two-month ceasefire in March.
The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in Israel in an Oct. 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave.
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Trump Picks Lawyer Who Called Oct. 7 Attack a ‘Psyop’ to Lead Federal Watchdog Agency
Paul Ingrassia. Photo: Screenshot
Paul Ingrassia, a 29-year-old lawyer who was recently nominated by US President Donald Trump to lead a federal agency dedicated to combating corruption and protecting whistleblowers, seemingly dismissed the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2o23, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel as a “psyop,” or “psychological operation, in resurfaced social media posts.
“This ‘war’ is yet another psyop to distract Americans from celebrating Columbus Day,” Ingrassia wrote on X/Twitter on Oct. 8, 2023.
“I think we could all admit at this stage that Israel/Palestine, much like Ukraine before it, and BLM before that, and covid/vaccine before that, was another psyop,” he posted a week later. “But sadly, people fell for it. And they’ll fall for the next one too.”
On the actual day of the Oct. 7 massacre, Ingrassia compared illegal immigration into the US to the Hamas-led onslaught.
“The amount of energy everyone has put into condemning Hamas (and prior to that, the Ukraine conflict) over the past 24 hours should be the same amount of energy we put into condemning our wide open border, which is a war comparable to the attack on Israel in terms of bloodshed — but made worse by the fact that it’s occurring in our very own backyard,” he posted. “We shouldn’t be beating the war drum, however tragic the events may be overseas, until we resolve our domestic problems first.”
Trump announced last week that he picked Ingrassia to serve as head of the US Office of Special Counsel, a position that requires confirmation by the Senate.
The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal ethics agency that works to ensure fairness and accountability within the government. Ingrassia’s role, if he is confirmed, would involve investigating claims of wrongdoing, such as retaliation against whistleblowers or improper political activity in the workplace. The official can recommend disciplinary action and reports serious findings to Congress, helping to protect federal employees and uphold the integrity of the civil service system.
Ingrassia also maintains a relationship with and defends alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate, who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media. Tate wrote on X/Twitter that he refuses to “listen to women, Mexicans, or Jews” and that Jewish people are “subverting Western populations into mass genetic suicide” by advancing what he described as misguided immigration policy. Tate has also accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza against Palestinians and engaged in Holocaust denialism.
The furor surrounding Ingrassia is the latest dustup the Trump administration has had regarding controversial personnel and antisemitism.
The Trump administration’s appointment of Kingsley Wilson as deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense also sparked widespread criticism due to her history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and extremist views. Wilson, formerly associated with the Center for Renewing America, has a documented history of social media posts endorsing white supremacist ideologies, including claims about the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank — a Jewish man whose wrongful conviction and subsequent murder galvanized the founding of the Anti-Defamation League. In 2023, she tweeted that Frank “raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl,” a statement aligning with neo-Nazi narratives.
Late last month, the Pentagon announced that Wilson will be promoted and serve as the department’s new press secretary.
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US Congress Pushes to Designate Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Organization
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Members of the US Congress are moving quickly to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an official terrorist organization.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced on Tuesday that he will reintroduce an updated version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act.
“In the coming days, I will be circulating and re-introducing a modernized version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, which I have been pushing for my entire Senate career,” he posted on X/Twitter. “The Muslim Brotherhood used the Biden administration to consolidate and deepen their influence, but the Trump administration and Republican Congress can no longer afford to avoid the threat they pose to Americans and American national security.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) sent a letter to the White House on Tuesday asking US President Donald Trump to open an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood, saying that the group maintains “a documented history of promoting extremist ideologies.”
“Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all declared the Muslim Brotherhood an FTO [foriegn terrorist organization] over a decade ago, and France is considering its own action. Following suit would help the US disrupt the Muslim Brotherhood’s ability to recruit and finance terror around the globe,” Moskowitz wrote on X/Twitter.
The push to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood gained momentum last month, when the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) organized a meeting to help members of Congress develop “strategies to ban the growing threat of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” the research group said in a press release.
“The Muslim Brotherhood appears to be the intellectual inspiration behind all Islamist groups (and their jihadist offshoots) that operate today, such as ISIS, al Qaeda, and Hamas,” ISGAP wrote in a 2023 report. “Sunni jihadist groups are grounded in the firm ideological roots that key MB [Muslim Brotherhood] ideologues pioneered in the last century.”
Hamas, the internationally designated terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades and perpetrated the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust with its invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, is a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Both Cruz and Moskowitz noted that Hamas is a “branch” and an “affiliate” of the global Islamist movement.
While several countries in the Middle East have already classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, the United States has yet to do the same, despite several attempts by Congress over the years. During Trump’s first term in office, officials in both the White House and Congress took initial steps toward sanctioning the group’s international branches, but a formal designation was never finalized.
US lawmakers believe they have identified multiple pathways to economically cripple the internationally designated terror organization. Congress could combat the Muslim Brotherhood by designating it a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) or placing it on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list. Both options would levy heavy penalties on the group through methods such as freezing its assets or sanctioning its leadership.
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