Families File Lawsuit Against Iran for October 7 Hamas Terrorist Attack on Israel
Today, families of American citizens, who were victims of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the events that followed, filed a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic of Iran in federal court in Washington D.C., alleging that Iran worked closely with Hamas to fund, plan, and coordinate the Hamas-led attack that resulted in the murder of approximately 1,200 people, in a rampage of brutality unthinkable in the modern world.
“The atrocities committed by Hamas and its co-conspirators, all operating with what our clients believe to be both tactical and financial support from Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were acts that cannot be permitted to stand,” stated Motley Rice anti-terrorism attorney John Eubanks.
Financing the October 7 Attack
The lawsuit, filed by 256 U.S. families and dozens of individuals, is also being brought against Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – all of whom are alleged to have played significant roles in causing the plaintiffs’ unimaginable pain, trauma, injury, and loss.
Naomi Weiser, whose soldier son Roey was killed defending Israel's border fence with Gaza before it was trampled on October 7, offered, “Our goal is to create documentation, to demonstrate with solid evidence, including Hamas' own documents, how Iran was directly involved in financing and planning the attack on October 7. It was a conscious choice of Iran to set fire to the Middle East and kill our son. This lawsuit is one of the important ways in which we can bring the facts to light and help the public understand what happened.”
Relying on newly available internal Hamas documents and a variety of other sources, the complaint makes new allegations concerning Iran’s central role in overseeing its so-called “Axis of Resistance” and the planning for an even larger scale October 7 attack in Israel. The complaint also discloses new information about the inner workings of Hamas’ terror apparatus and internal rivalries, and the key role played by Iran in financing, planning, and overseeing key aspects of the attack plan, including the introduction of gliders as part of the initial assault.
What's in the New Documents?
The newly disclosed documents reveal:
- A list of payments from the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to Yahya Sinwar’s personal discretionary fund for terrorism over the course of 8 years from 2014 to 2020
- Sinwar’s request for an additional $7 million per month from the IRGC to fund the “Big Project”
- Ismail Haniyeh’s complaints to Yahya Sinwar about fellow Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and the latter’s objections to normalizing Hamas’ relationship with the Assad regime “based on personal issues and not substantive ones”
- The IRGC’s role in coordinating between Hamas and Hezbollah in preparation for the attack
- The fact that Hamas’ terror apparatus (Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades) maintained a “Human Resources” department that, among other things, dispensed scholarships for its operatives to obtain advanced degrees in Iran
The complaint contains significant new information about:
- The timing and location of key planning meetings in Lebanon overseen by the IRGC, in which senior Hezbollah and Hamas operatives finalized the details for the October 7 attack
- The IRGC’s role in altering the attack plan to include a glider assault and the subsequent training of Hamas assault teams in Lebanon to carry out the mission
Batya Sprei, whose brother David was murdered at the ‘Nova’ festival on October 7, said, “We believe in holding those responsible accountable, and hope that our efforts will contribute to the public's understanding of what happened on October 7. The attack was not a spontaneous event, and Hamas did not act alone. As Hamas' own documents make clear, Iran helped finance and plan the attack. Hamas lit the match, but Iran provided the fuel.”
“Money is the lifeblood of terrorism. This suit aims to identify and dismantle the financial networks that fuel atrocities against defenseless individuals,” stated Motley Rice anti-terrorism and human rights attorney Michael Elsner. “We are honored to represent these families in their fight for justice.”
Motley Rice LLC is working with Jenner & Block LLP, Osen LLC and Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP on this important matter.
Our experience with terrorism cases
Our attorneys have worked for decades to support families and survivors of terrorism on U.S. soil and abroad. Our work is largely facilitated by the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a law that allows U.S. victims to sue terrorists and their financial and material supporters in U.S. federal court.