Unsealing secret Hamas papers, families of October 7 victims sue Iran in US court

Families of American victims of the October 7 attacks led by Hamas have filed suit in a US federal court against Iran and an array of linked terror groups, presenting what they say is new proof of Tehran’s involvement in the attack, according to a lawyer representing several plaintiffs.

The suit, which has been seen by The Times of Israel, relies on what attorneys for the plaintiffs say are secret documents uncovered by lawyer Gary Osen showing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps funneling millions of dollars to Hamas.

The complaint also includes a document from a 2022 meeting of senior Hamas members Yahya Sinwar, Khalil al-Hayya and others plotting out the contours of mutual defense agreement between Hamas and other Iran-backed groups should war break out. The paper includes a decision to request Iran send Hamas $7 million monthly “to mobilize and prepare for … confrontations.”

According to the New York Times, the $7 million monthly was sought to ready for the October 7 attack.

Aside from Iran and the IRGC, the suit also names Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

While the documents include references to funding for Hamas from Qatar and Turkey, neither US ally is named in the suit. Also left out are Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who were taken off the US’s terror blacklist by the Biden administration.

Many of the victims in the suit were killed or kidnapped on October 7, though other plaintiffs include families from southern Israel who suffered emotionally during or after the attacks. Families of several soldiers killed in combat are also named.

Among the 37 families of victims in the suit is Yechiel Leiter, who is set to become Israel’s ambassador to the US. Leiter’s son Moshe Leiter was killed in battle in Gaza in late November 2023.

The suit seeks unspecified financial awards for the families under the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and Anti-Terrorism Act.