WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced the creation of a task force Monday to investigate Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel as well as potential civil rights violations and acts of antisemitism by anyone supporting the militant group.

Agents and prosecutors participating in Joint Task Force October 7 will investigate and look to bring charges against Hamas militants directly responsible for the rampage in southern Israel.

“The barbaric Hamas terrorists will not win — and there will be consequences,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

The attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and Hamas took 251 hostages. It touched off an Israeli counteroffensive that has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced most of the population and killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants.

The Biden administration’s Justice Department unsealed charges last September against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the attack on Israel. The impact of the case is mostly symbolic, given that Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces weeks later and several other defendants are believed now to be dead.

The new task force will take over those pending charges, the department said.

The announcement of the task force comes as President Donald Trump has issued what he has called a “last warning” to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza. His administration also has targeted U.S. universities over a perceived failure to squelch antisemitism on campus as well as foreigners who participated in pro- Palestinian demonstrations.

The Justice Department announced this month that it is investigating whether Columbia University concealed “illegal aliens” on its campus, and federal immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate student.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he revoked Khalil’s permission to be in the U.S. because of his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, saying they had riled up “anti-Jewish” sentiment and amounted to support for Hamas.

Khalil’s lawyers have challenged his detention.

South African ambassador: The State Department says South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, who was declared “persona non grata” last week, has until Friday to leave the country.

After Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. and posted his decision Friday on social media, South African embassy staff were summoned to the State Department and given a formal diplomatic note explaining the decision, department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

She said Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and immunities expired Monday.

South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said in a television interview Monday that Rasool would be leaving as soon as possible.

Rubio announced his decision in a post on X as he was flying back to the United States from a Group of 7 meeting in Canada. In it, he accused Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump.

His post linked to a story by the conservative Breitbart news site about a talk Rasool gave earlier Friday in Johannesburg as part of a South African think tank’s webinar. Rasool, speaking by videoconference, talked about actions taken by the Trump administration in the context of a United States where white people soon would no longer be in the majority.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters Monday that Rasool would give him a report when he returned home.