US families of Oct 7 victims sue Palestinian-American billionaire for allegedly helping Hamas

On Monday, families of U.S. victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., against Palestinian-American billionaire Bashar Masri, accusing him of aiding the terrorist group Hamas. The attack resulted in the deaths of at least 46 American citizens.

The lawsuit specifically accuses Masri’s businesses of providing electricity for Hamas tunnels where hostages were kept, and where terrorists were hiding with their weapons. Furthermore, Masri’s companies are also accused of providing support for senior Hamas officials. 

The attorney Gary Osen, who is heading the prosecution team against Masri, emphasized that Hamas’ terror tunnels played a central role before, during and after the Hamas Oct. 7 attack. 

“Any assessment of the factors that enabled Hamas to carry out these unprecedented attacks is woefully incomplete without considering the terror tunnel network’s central role. Palestinian attack tunnels, which have plagued the Israeli people for more than a decade now, were activated to unprecedented levels on October 7th,” Osen stated. 

The plaintiffs include Israel’s former science and technology minister Yitzhar Shai whose son, Sergeant Yaron Uri Shai was killed on Oct. 7.

“We cannot return to the pre-Oct. 7 mindset, where people delude themselves that strengthening the economy in Hamas-controlled Gaza does not also mean strengthening its terrorist infrastructure,” Shai said. 

“The prosecution presents evidence that senior Palestinian investors raised funds from the World Bank, the UN and the European Union to build an industrial zone and luxury hotels in Gaza – while at the same time working with Hamas to build the terror tunnels underneath them,” he added. 

Other plaintiffs include the tech entrepreneur Eyal Waldman who lost his daughter and her partner during the Nova Music Festival Hamas massacre. The family of the murdered dual American-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin have also joined the lawsuit as well as Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter whose son Moshe was killed in battle against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. 

“Since October 7, our first goal has been the return of the hostages,” said another plaintiff and the mother of Iris Weinstein Hagai who was murdered by Hamas on October 7. “But we also demand accountability – not only from Hamas but also from those who knowingly, even if indirectly, helped it. American law allows this," she continued, referring to the businessman Masri. 

Masri reportedly has close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump’s former hostage envoy Adam Boehler, who was sidelined last month after being criticized by Israel for directly negotiating with Hamas. 

Masri who was born in Nablus in Samaria during the Jordanian rule in 1961 and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, is the current chairman of the Palestine Development and Investment Company. He is the former CEO of the Karni Industrial Zone and reportedly also serves as a secret advisor to the Trump administration.

Masri has previously been considered as a candidate to lead the American and Israeli efforts to identify local Gazan officials who are not affiliated with Hamas and could potentially be part of a post-war post-Hamas administration in the coastal enclave. However, the lawsuit against Masri has likely diminished his chances to assume this post-war role. 

Along with his extensive business connections in the Middle East, Masri also has ties to global industry leaders such as NEVIDIA and Apple. Additionally, he serves on the board of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.