Less than two months after Hamas’ assault on southern Israel last year killed around 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was asked what the Justice Department was doing in response.
“We always investigate the deaths of Americans,” Garland told reporters in November 2023. “We are actively investigating the deaths of the Americans using all the tools available to us.”
For the Americans killed by Hamas, Garland’s Justice Department followed through. In September, the attorney general announced charges against six leaders of Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization. Garland also condemned Hamas’ recent killing of a half dozen hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
“We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of the brutal murders of Americans, as acts of terrorism,” Garland said.
Over the past year, four Americans also have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but, their families say, by Israelis. All four families of those slain Americans tell NPR they have heard nothing from the Justice Department; they say there’s no indication the department is investigating the deaths of their loved ones.
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