US Supreme Court won't halt $656 million judgment against Palestinians over terror attacks

Key Points:

• Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor declined to pause a $655.5 million damages award against the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization in a US civil lawsuit related to terror attacks during the Second Intifada.
• The lawsuit involves attacks from 2002 to 2004 in Jerusalem that killed 33 people and wounded hundreds, with the judgment reinstated by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling upholding a 2019 federal law enabling such claims.
• Palestinian authorities argued that enforcing the judgment would cause severe financial harm and destabilize essential government services in the West Bank, where funding is already limited, while plaintiffs see the decision as a step toward justice after a lengthy legal battle.
• The 2019 Promoting Security and Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act allows US courts jurisdiction over Palestinian entities if they engage in certain activities or payments linked to attacks on Americans, a law upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court last year.
• Sotomayor did not provide an explanation for denying the stay request, and the case will proceed while the Palestinian authorities continue to appeal the judgment.