Palestinian-American billionaire Bashar Masri has been accused of using United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and international-funded Gazan infrastructure projects to facilitate Hamas tunnel systems, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday on behalf of American October 7 massacre victims.
The lawsuit – filed by law firms Osen LLC, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, and Motley Rice LLC – alleged that following the 2021 conflict, Masri had rebuilt the Gaza Industrial Estate (GIE), which had been established in 1997 with support from USAID, turning it into a hub of Hamas operation.
While GIE housed legitimate businesses, the lawsuit alleged that it also hosted a terrorist tunnel network, including a passage under the border to allow Hamas to attack Israelis.
The lawsuit noted that PADICO Board of Directors chair Masri presided over the 2022 signing of the GIE rebuilding project alongside alleged Hamas manufacturing division commander and economy minister Abd al-Fattah al-Zari’i.
Zari’i was killed in an IDF airstrike in August for his logistical role in facilitating terrorist operations and seizing control of humanitarian aid.
Osen LLC managing partner Gary Osen said in the press release, “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.”
Masri is also alleged by the suit to have worked with Hamas to supply tunnel infrastructure with electricity from solar power and green energy infrastructure that were backed by the US, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
Evidence of money raised to support Hamas
Plaintiff and former Israeli science and technology minister Izhar Shay, who lost his son in the October 7 attacks, said that the lawsuit presented evidence that prominent Palestinian investors raised money from the World Bank, the UN, and the EU to build projects but coordinated with Hamas to develop subterranean infrastructure.
“We can’t go back to a pre-October 7 mindset where people pretend that it is possible to support economic development in a Gaza controlled by Hamas without also supporting its terrorist infrastructure,” Shay said in a statement.
Shay mentioned two luxury hotels held by PADICO that the suit also alleged were involved in facilitating Hamas tunnel and rocket operations. The complaint also noted that the hotels served as venues for key Hamas events.
A spokesperson for Masri said that he was shocked to learn about the allegations through the media and would seek the dismissal of the "baseless" complaint in court.
Masri "unequivocally opposes violence of any kind," according to the spokesman, and rejected the idea that he or his companies had engaged in unlawful activity or provided support for violence and militancy.
The spokesperson noted that Masri, a successful and respected Palestinian American entrepreneur and business leader, has been recognized by the US for his humanitarian work and efforts to promote regional peace and stability and has been widely recognized by the United States and all concerned parties in the region.
The families of American October 7 victims were seeking to hold Masri, who sits on the board of Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and his corporations and holdings accountable under the Anti-Terrorism Act for working with Hamas in a manner that contributed to the 2023 attack.
Osen said in a statement that the lawsuit was not only striving for justice but to expose the individuals and companies that aided Hamas atrocities, chief among them Masri.
Plaintiff Iris Weinstein Haggai, whose parents were murdered on October 7, said in a statement that “since October 7 our priority has been to get our hostages back, but we’re also seeking accountability and that includes accountability under American law – not just for Hamas but also for those who knowingly helped it.”