Palestinian-American businessman asks US judge to dismiss lawsuit alleging he aided Hamas

A prominent Palestinian-American developer has asked a US judge to throw out a lawsuit accusing him of supporting Hamas through his Gaza projects, arguing it equates participating in Gaza’s economy with terrorism.

Bashar Masri, who built luxury hotels in Gaza and the Palestinians’ first planned city in the West Bank, was sued last year by US families of victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks who alleged his Gaza properties concealed tunnels the terror group used to stage its assault.

Before the Gaza war, Hamas built a labyrinth tunnel network that stretched across nearly all of Gaza. Businesses often grappled with whether and how to invest in a territory ruled by a group deemed a terrorist organization by the US and whose tacit approval was needed for large development projects.

The civil complaint, filed on behalf of around 200 American plaintiffs, alleges that Masri knew about Hamas tunnels under his two seaside hotels, which it says the group accessed from guest rooms. It also says the group powered underground fortifications with electricity from solar panels in an industrial zone he operated.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages from Masri and four of his companies under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which lets American victims of terrorism sue for damages in US courts.

Filing a motion to dismiss the complaint in federal court in Miami, Masri’s lawyers say he bore no blame for the October 2023 attacks on Israel, describing them as “barbaric acts of terrorism.”

The defendants “unequivocally condemn Hamas’ violence and the suffering it inflicted upon innocent civilians,” they wrote, adding that the plaintiffs had failed to show Masri knew his conduct could aid Hamas in staging attacks.

The complaint amounts to “speculation” that Masri and his companies “engaged in international terrorism merely by participating in economic development projects” in Gaza, Masri’s lawyers wrote.