US media reported last month that the Arab bank has reached a settlement with hundreds of American plaintiffs who were victims of Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. According to the New York Times report:
Three days before a first-of-its-kind damages trial was supposed to start, a Middle Eastern bank has reached a settlement with hundreds of American plaintiffs, including victims of terrorist attacks around Israel, who had filed a lawsuit against the bank accusing it of supporting terrorism.
A spokesman for the bank, Arab Bank, and a spokeswoman for one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs confirmed on Friday that an agreement had been reached but declined to offer additional details, including the amount of the settlement.
Last year, a jury in Federal District Court in Brooklyn found Arab Bank liable for financing terrorism by processing transactions for members of the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The second phase of the trial, assessing the damages Arab Bank would have to pay to some victims of attacks by Hamas, was scheduled to start on Monday.
All of the plaintiffs are American victims of Hamas attacks or relatives of people who were killed.
Michael Elsner, a plaintiffs’ lawyer with Motley Rice, said through a spokeswoman that ‘the framework’ of the settlement agreement ‘will be finalized over the next few months.’
Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, American victims of terrorist attacks abroad may sue for damages in federal court. (Some of the victims in this case lived in the Eastern District of New York, which covers Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island in New York City, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties. That is why the case is being heard in Brooklyn.)”
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW reported in September 2014 that a New York jury had found the Arab Bank Plc liable for providing material support to Hamas and said it must compensate victims of related Hamas terrorist attacks. The case is the first terrorism financing civil case to reach trial in the United States.
For a profile of Hamas, go here.