Reuters: US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor declined on Monday to halt $655.5 million in damages that Palestinian authorities were ordered to pay plaintiffs in a US civil lawsuit concerning attacks that killed and injured Americans in Israel from 2002 to 2004.
Sotomayor denied a request by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to put on hold the judgment while they appeal a lower court’s decision to revive the case years after it had been dismissed. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Americans killed or injured in those shootings and bombings in the Jerusalem area.
The Supreme Court last year upheld a federal law that allowed claims like those brought by the plaintiffs in the case. Sotomayor did not explain her decision and did not refer the case to the entire court. Sotomayor handles emergency matters for cases arising from New York and certain other states.
The Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the judgment in March following the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in June 2025 to uphold the 2019 law, called the Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. The Palestinian organisations said that enforcing the judgment in the case will cause severe financial harm and destabilise government services in the West Bank, harming people who live there and jeopardising regional security.
They said in a written filing that the plaintiffs intend to seek payment from indirect Palestinian tax revenue collected by Israel, a key source of funding for Palestinian government operations. Security, sanitation and school services in the West Bank “are hanging by a thread,” they wrote.
US Supreme Court Won’t Halt $655 Million Judgment Against Palestinians Over Attacks
