On the morning of October 7, 2023, the day Hamas murdered 1,200 people in Israel, a man’s voice was recorded on a mobile phone close to the scene of the attacks.
‘If things go the way they should, Syria will take part, Lebanon will take part…and it’s going to be a third world war…,’ the voice said.
Shortly afterward, the same man was recorded saying: ‘I swear by God, I’m inside. Turn your phones off, boys.’
Around the same time, his phone connected with a cell tower 1.9 miles east of Gaza and 0.4 miles from Kfar Aza, a kibbutz where 62 residents were killed and 19 taken hostage.
According to an FBI affidavit, the voice belonged to Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, 33, also known as ‘Abu Ala.’
He was an operative for the Gaza-based National Resistance Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the affidavit said.
This week, Al-Muhtadi appeared in court in the unlikely setting of Lafayette, Louisiana, where he had recently been working in a restaurant while posting pictures of himself on social media with a gun.
He pleaded not guilty to two charges – conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization, and visa fraud.
Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi, 33, also known as ‘Abu Ala’ is accused of being involved in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel that killed 1,200
Al-Muhtadi had been in the United States for over a year.
The story of how someone suspected of participating in the October 7 atrocity came to be in the country, complete with a driving license and social security number, has left Republicans asking how the Biden administration allowed it to happen.
According to the allegations in court documents, on October 7, 2023, Al-Muhtadi was alerted to the Hamas attack on social media by 6:34am, minutes after it began, and told others he intended to cross from Gaza into Israel.
He is alleged to have spent the next two hours coordinating a group of armed fighters to join him.
By 9.33am, according to the criminal complaint, his group had crossed into Israel.
By 10.01am he was in the vicinity of the cell tower near Kfar Aza.
The complaint laid out the horror of what happened that day at Kfar Aza, where the dead included four American citizens.
In one particularly horrific killing two children, aged six and nine, hid inside a wardrobe next to their mother’s body for approximately twelve hours before being rescued.
A three-year old girl fled, covered in her father’s blood, to a neighbor’s house where she was then kidnapped.
Al-Muhtadi appeared in court in the unlikely setting of Lafayette, Louisiana, where he had recently been working in a restaurant while posting pictures of himself on social media
The complaint against Al-Muhtadi laid out the horror of what happened that day at Kfar Aza, where the dead included four American citizens
The FBI has since trawled Al-Muhtadi’s social media and email and found that, before the attack, it contained pictures of him armed and wearing a red head band, along with images of a rocket propelled grenade launcher and numerous automatic rifles lying on a table, court records say.
Six recordings of telephone calls he is alleged to have made on October 7, 2023 were also unearthed and described in court records.
At 8.12am Al-Muhtadi allegedly asked another man on the phone to ‘go pick up the thing, because I might continue east man.’
The other man responded: ‘We are ready man. And if you want me to go east with you, I’m ready.’
Al-Muhtadi allegedly replied: ‘Get ready. The borders are open I swear. They are passing by in the Hilux (a type of truck). Get ready. Keep your phone on, so, I can call you when I get there.’
In another call at 9.07am he allegedly asked someone ‘Did you bring the rifles?’ and said that his car was ‘full.’
Three minuets later someone on the phone told him: ‘We have vests.’
The suspect’s phone connected with a cell tower 1.9 miles east of Gaza and 0.4 miles from Kfar Aza, a kibbutz where 62 residents were killed and 19 taken hostage
Attorney General Pam Bondi called Al-Muhtadi a ‘monster’ when she announced his arrest
At 9.33am Al-Muhtadi allegedly said: ‘I swear by God, I’m inside. Turn your phones off, boys.’
He then advised someone to get a motorcycle and join him, according to court documents.
Fast forward to June 26, 2024 and an individual named ‘Mahmoud Almuhtadi’ submitted an online application to live in the United States.
He filled out a DS-260 form, an ‘Immigrant Visa Application.’
It said he was born in Gaza in 1991 and lived there until March 2024, when he moved to Cairo, Egypt.
According to the form his wife helped him fill out the application.
It was unclear from the criminal complaint what route he was using for a visa, but the DS-260 is used for family sponsorship.
President Donald Trump has sought to reduce the number of people entering through family sponsorship, and to increase research of would-be immigrants’ social media posts.
According to questions answered on his DS-260, Al-Muhtadi indicated he did not have any specialized training with firearms and that he had never been involved with a paramilitary unit or terrorism, court records say.
The complaint included photos of guns found in his possession in Louisiana
On August 6, 2024 he attended an appointment ay the U.S. Embassy in Cairo where his fingerprints and photograph were taken.
The DS-260 showed that he intended to live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and work in ‘car repairs or food services.’
He ultimately arrived in the U.S. on September 12, 2024 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to the criminal complaint.
Public records indicate he went on to live at an apartment in a quiet residential street in Tulsa.
He obtained an Oklahoma state driver’s license under the name ‘Mahmoud A Y Almuhtadi.’
Six days after he entered the country someone sent him a message on social media, the FBI said.
The message said: ‘Listen, I want to tell you something, no need to go to the resistance guys [National Resistance Brigades]…. Because you are now under surveillance for everything.’
On February 20, 2025, Al-Muhtadi posted a selfie on social media in which he was holding a Glock 26 9-millimeter firearm, along with seven rounds and a magazine, according to court records.
In June FBI agents found him in Lafayette, Louisiana and carried out an undercover operation.
An undercover agent met in person with Al-Muhtadi six times between July and September, and spoke with him on the phone 11 times.
The investigation established that his voice matched the one on the phone calls from near the kibbutz, the complaint said.
‘He appeared to be residing in Lafayette and working at a local restaurant,’ it added.
Al-Muhtadi was arrested on October 16.
At his first court appearance the following day, in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol B. Whitehurst, he needed an interpreter.
He wore an orange jail jumpsuit and two U.S. Marshals brought him in with shackles on his hands and feet.
Al-Muhtadi has pleaded not guilty to two charges – conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization, and visa fraud
He was charged with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization., an offense which carries a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
The second count was visa fraud, which has a possible sentence of up to 10 years.
He pleaded not guilty to both counts.
The court heard that classified documents would form part of the case.
Announcing the arrest earlier this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi said: ‘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.’
At the Lafayette hearing Al-Muhtadi’s lawyer, Aaron Adams, told the court: ‘In the American criminal legal system all accused are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
‘In calling Mahmoud Al-Muhtadi a “monster,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi seems to have forgotten this fundamental principle.
‘We must bear in mind that no evidence has yet been presented in a court of law supporting the government’s allegations. We look forward to addressing those allegations in court.’
A photo in the FBI affidavit against Al-Muhtadi shows a line of automatic rifles lying on a table
Meanwhile, Republicans attacked the previous Biden administration over the case.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said: ‘He applied for a visa out of Egypt, came to Oklahoma in September 2024 under the Biden administration. They let him in.’
House Majority Leader and Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise added: ‘It is disgusting that Democrats’ failed open border policies allowed this to happen.’
