The US Supreme Court on Monday maintained the implementation of a ruling requiring the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to pay $655.5 million to Americans harmed by attacks that occurred between 2002 and 2004, after Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected a request to suspend compensation. The two Palestinian authorities warned of serious financial, service and security repercussions in the West Bank.
Published on: 04/08/2026 - 01:30Last updated: 04/08/2026 - 05:27
US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday refused to suspend the implementation of a ruling requiring the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to pay compensation amounting to $655.5 million, in a civil case related to attacks that killed and wounded Americans in Israel between 2002 and 2004.
Sotomayor rejected a request by the Palestinian Authority and the PLO to suspend the payment of compensation until an appeal is decided on a lower court decision that reopened the case, years after it was dropped.
The judge did not explain the reasons for her decision, nor did she refer the request to the full Supreme Court. Sotomayor handles urgent requests related to cases coming from New York and a number of other states.
The case dates back to attacks that occurred between 2002 and 2004
The case goes back to a lawsuit filed by Americans whose relatives were killed or injured in shootings and bombings in Jerusalem and other areas between 2002 and 2004, and they accused the Palestinian Authority and the Liberation Organization of being responsible for them.
In 2015, a jury in a federal court in New York ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, obligating the two Palestinian parties to pay compensation worth $655.5 million.
But the Second Circuit Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in 2016, considering that the federal court that heard the case did not have jurisdiction, before the Supreme Court refused in 2018 to consider an appeal filed by the plaintiffs.
In 2019, Congress passed the “Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act,” with the aim of facilitating the prosecution of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO before American courts.
The law stipulates that the two entities are considered to have agreed to submit to American jurisdiction if they carry out specific activities in the United States, or provide payments to people who carry out attacks targeting Americans.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that the law violated the rights of the two Palestinian parties to due process under the US Constitution, but the Supreme Court overturned this decision by unanimous consent of its judges in June 2025.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Court of Appeal in March reinstated the ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
The Palestinian Authority warns of financial and service repercussions
The Palestinian Authority and the PLO warned in their memorandum before the court that implementing the ruling would cause serious financial damage and threaten the continuity of government, security, educational, and sanitation services in the West Bank.
They said the plaintiffs may seek to collect compensation from Palestinian tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which represents a major source of funding for its operations.
They also argued that the ruling issued in 2015 lost its legal effect after exhausting the paths of appeal in 2018, and therefore it may not be re-executed.
France 24/Reuters
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