Bashar Masri, a prominent Palestinian-American billionaire and real estate developer, has been accused of facilitating Hamas operations that led to the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
A lawsuit, filed on Monday in a federal court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of 200 family members of Americans killed in the attack, claims that Bashar Masri aided Hamas by providing access to infrastructure funded by international donors, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The plaintiffs allege that Masri allowed Hamas to use tunnel systems, missile launch sites, and utilities on his properties in Gaza.
Legal claims against Masri
The lawsuit, filed by law firms Osen LLC, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, and Motley Rice LLC, asserts that Masri redeveloped the Gaza Industrial Estate (GIE) with USAID funds shortly after the 2021 conflict and that the site later became a hub for Hamas operations.
According to the lawsuit, two major locations tied to Masri’s developments were used by Hamas:
- A pair of luxury hotels on the Mediterranean coast, where intense battles between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took place at the start of the war.
- An industrial park near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, close to the Karni border crossing from Israel into Gaza.
Lee Wolosky, an attorney representing the victims’ families, alleged that Masri’s properties provided critical support to Hamas. “On and after October 7, Defendants provided electricity to Hamas and specifically to Hamas attack tunnels built under and into Defendants’ properties,” Wolosky stated, as reported by the New York Post.
He further claimed that Masri’s assistance “legitimized Hamas and gave its operations under and within Defendants’ properties greater protection from Israeli and U.S. action.”
Masri’s background and ties to U.S. diplomacy
Bashar Masri, the founder of Rawabi—the first planned Palestinian city in the West Bank—has long been a key figure in U.S.-Palestinian relations.
He has advised U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump’s envoy for hostage negotiations, Adam Boehler, on postwar plans for Gaza. The Jerusalem Post reported that Masri attended diplomatic meetings in Cairo, Egypt, and Doha, Qatar, alongside Boehler.
Masri also played a role in the First Intifada of 1987 and has been a well-known name in U.S. diplomatic circles. In a 2019 60 Minutes interview, he described his real estate developments as “a shortcut” to achieving peace with Israel.
Bashar Masri denies allegations
A spokesperson for Bashar Masri called the lawsuit “baseless” and vowed to challenge it in court. “Mr. Masri unequivocally opposes violence of any kind,” the spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.
They denied any wrongdoing, asserting that neither Masri nor his businesses have supported militant groups or engaged in any criminal activity.
However, the lawsuit seeks to use the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act to hold Masri and his companies accountable for allegedly facilitating Hamas’s attack on October 7.
Masri is also a board member at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, adding to the prominence of the case. As legal proceedings unfold, the allegations against him could have significant diplomatic and political implications.