As Israelis continue to debate the release of convicted terrorists as part of the current hostage exchange deal with Hamas, they aren’t the only ones thinking about prisoner releases. American victims of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups—and their families—are watching, too. For us, the prospect of seeing the murderers of American citizens walk free is not an abstract policy issue. It is deeply personal.
Thirty years ago, my daughter Alisa Flatow, a 20-year-old American college student, was murdered in a Palestinian terror attack in Gaza. On April 9, 1995, she was riding a bus when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device packed with nails. She was one of eight people killed. The attack was carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad with a Hamas-built bomb, funded by Iran.
As her father, I’ve spent decades seeking justice—not only for Alisa but for dozens of other American victims of Palestinian terrorism. Civil lawsuits under the 1995 Anti-Terrorism Act and its successors allowed families to hold state sponsors like Iran accountable financially. But the men and women who carried out or orchestrated these murders have never faced American criminal justice. Many are still in Israeli prisons. And now, some of them may soon be released.
Palestinian terrorist groups have killed more than 100 U.S. citizens since the 1970s. No perpetrators have ever faced American courts. Those not killed in anti-terror actions were prosecuted in Israel—only to be freed in subsequent lopsided prisoner exchanges.
Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader behind the massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was serving four life sentences when Israel released him in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal. His release paved the way for the bloodiest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
In the 1996 Jaffa Road bus bombing, Americans Matthew Eisenfeld and Sarah Duker, both 25, were among the 26 killed. The Hamas operative responsible, Abdullah al-Jawari, was also released in 2011.
Ahlam Tamimi, who helped plan the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem, murdered Malki Roth and another American among 15 victims. She now lives freely as a celebrity in Jordan, which has refused U.S. extradition requests since 2013.
Countless others—from the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing to Hamas and PIJ operations in Gaza—have escaped U.S. justice.
These are not ancient cases. They are open wounds. The families of these victims still wait for accountability.
U.S. law already provides a mechanism for justice.
It is a federal crime to kill an American citizen abroad. Israel, Egypt and Turkey have extradition treaties with the United States. Jordan has a treaty, too, but as shown in the Tamimi case, it is not recognized by Jordanian courts. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain do not have treaties with the United States, but they do review extradition requests on a case-by-case basis. And the U.S. Department of Justice has used similar tools to prosecute Al-Qaeda operatives, cartel leaders and war criminals.
Here’s what should happen, quietly and strategically:
1. Federal prosecutors should seek sealed indictments against terrorists currently in Israeli custody who killed Americans.
2. If and when Israel releases any of them, the U.S. should immediately unseal the indictments and issue extradition requests.
3. If extradition fails, the arrest warrants stand and hang over the heads of the released prisoners if they travel to a U.S.-friendly country.
This isn’t theoretical. Sealed indictments have been used effectively against Al-Qaeda operatives before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and against cartel bosses. They allow America to act without interfering in delicate negotiations but ensure that murderers of U.S. citizens cannot walk free without consequence.
The United States rightly stands with Israel after Oct. 7. Standing with an ally, however, does not mean abandoning our own murdered citizens. If Washington can indict foreign nationals for attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa, it can do the same for Hamas and PIJ killers of Americans.
Congress should press the Justice Department to move now. Families of victims should not learn after the fact that the people who murdered their children have been freed with no plan to bring them to justice.
Justice for Alisa, Matt, Sarah and so many others isn’t about vengeance. It’s about the rule of law and deterrence.
America must make it clear: If you kill an American citizen, then you will face American justice.
