Palestinian Authorities Fined After Conviction on Terror Charge

The Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian Authority were last night ordered to pay more than $218 million after a landmark US court ruling found them guilty of providing material support for terrorists.

Jurors found in favour of 10 American families suing over six attacks attributed to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas, in which 33 people were killed and 450 injured.

The PLO and the Palestinian Authority will appeal, but the award could be tripled under the US Anti-Terrorism Act.

Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think-tank and a former terrorism finance analyst for the US Treasury Department said: “Terrorism now is a liability, financially speaking. If a money trail can be established then you have the potential for lawsuits more and more.

“We live in a litigious era, so there is a price to pay for engaging in violence of this sort.

“More and more we are seeing targeted financial sanctions and lawsuits of this kind will make it financially painful for these actors.”