Trump admin urged to probe allegations pro-Hamas college groups had ‘prior knowledge’ of Oct 7 attack

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is asking the Trump administration to open a probe into whether any anti-Israel groups that have been protesting on college campuses had any prior knowledge of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack.

It comes after similar claims were lodged in an explosive lawsuit that accused specific anti-Israel groups of having prior knowledge of the surprise attack in southern Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead. The lawsuit was filed by people linked to victims of the attack.

“US foreign adversaries are engaged in dynamic campaigns to target US students. In the interest of US national security, we should not tolerate any organizations that coordinate with terrorist groups like Hamas on American university campuses or anywhere in our country for that matter,” read a letter led by Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas.

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The Trump administration is being asked to probe accusations that pro-Hamas college groups may have had prior knowledge about the Oct. 7 attack. (Getty/AP)

Fallon and four other House Republicans wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, praising them for working “to remove pro-Hamas agitators from our university campuses.”

“We are thrilled that the Trump administration has made it a priority to hold these individuals responsible and, in some cases, begin the process of deportation,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, there have been political clashes over the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 29-year-old green card holder and Palestinian activist who was a central figure in Columbia University’s controversial anti-Israel protests.

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Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil talks to the press during a press briefing organized by pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City on June 1, 2024.  (Getty Images)

Khalil was among those named in the lawsuit as allegedly having prior knowledge of Hamas’ attack. His lawyers previously told other outlets that he has no ties to Hamas.

But the Republican lawmakers are raising questions of whether groups that fomented demonstrations there and on other college campuses are more intimately familiar with Hamas’ plans than previously known.

“With the lawsuit filed this past Monday in the New York Southern District Court against the anti-western activist organizations Within Our Lifetime, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and other pro-Hamas agitators, evidence has surfaced that suggests these groups may have had prior knowledge of the barbaric attacks planned for October 7, 2023,” they wrote.

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“For example, Columbia SJP reactivated its dormant Instagram account just minutes before the attacks began and engaged in pro-Hamas messaging afterwards, even going so far as to issue a statement in support of the massacre.”

Fox News Digital reached out to an attorney for Khalil but did not immediately hear back.