Approximately 200 American family members of the October 7 victims filed a lawsuit Monday in a federal court in Washington against Bashar Masri, a Palestinian-American billionaire. The legal action accuses Masri of facilitating the Hamas attack by developing businesses in Gaza that concealed and powered the organization's extensive tunnel network.
Masri, descended from a prominent Nablus family and chairman of the Palestinian Development and Investment Company, is widely recognized as the visionary behind Rawabi, the Palestinian Authority's first planned city – a $1.4 billion development project. The lawsuit alleges that Masri orchestrated deals for hotels, an industrial park, and various businesses in Gaza while working directly with Hamas officials. One notable property mentioned is the Al-Mashtal Hotel, which the IDF identified back in 2014 as a Hamas rocket launch site.
Among the transactions Masri allegedly conducted with Hamas are a $60 million solar energy project in Gaza announced in September 2023 and a 2022 agreement with Abdul Fattah Zarei, Hamas' Deputy Economy Minister, who was later eliminated in an IDF strike in 2024.
The legal complaint contends that over several decades, Masri systematically misappropriated funds from the US government and international organizations that were earmarked for economic development, instead channeling them to strengthen Hamas' terrorist infrastructure.
Masri maintains connections to both the Trump administration and Qatar. He reportedly provided advisory services and private jet transportation to Adam Boehler, a special envoy in the US State Department who engaged in direct negotiations with Hamas in March. In 2020, Masri secured an appointment to the advisory council of the US International Development Finance Corporation, a position he retained until 2023.
Masri participated in demonstrations at age 14 and experienced eight arrests by Israeli authorities. He earned a chemical engineering degree from Virginia Tech University before returning to Ramallah in the mid-1990s, where he founded the newspaper Al-Ayyam and launched various business enterprises. By 2018, Masri had gained international recognition, ranking 38th on Fortune magazine's list of the world's most influential leaders.
