American-Israeli families sue Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah in federal court

Thirty-seven families on Sunday filed a lawsuit in US federal court in Washington, DC, against Iran and what they say are its proxies in the region responsible for the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel.

All are US citizens who either reside in Israel or have dual Israeli citizenship. 

The plaintiffs name the defendants as the Iranian government; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); Hamas; Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ); Hezbollah; and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They are seeking unspecified “compensatory damages for wrongful death and survival, including, but not limited to, physical injury, extreme mental anguish, pain and suffering, economic losses, and any pecuniary loss”, according to the 154-page document. 

The lawsuit is being brought forward primarily under the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which means that countries cannot enjoy immunity from US courts if they are designated as state sponsors of terrorism and if they are accused of being responsible for torture, hostage-taking or extrajudicial killing, among other acts. 

All the non-state actors listed as defendants are also classified as terrorist groups in the US. 

“Iran helped plan the October 7 attack itself, provided dedicated financing for it, and coordinated logistics and training between Hamas and Hezbollah in advance of the launch date for the attack,” the lawsuit says. 

“Iran financed, supported, and approved this largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.” 

The document details meetings in August and September of 2023 between then-Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas’s then-deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon, as well as gatherings of representatives from various Palestinian factions that met with IRGC members there. 

“The Wall Street Journal has reported that meetings in the Joint Operations Room in Beirut culminated with an October 2 meeting in which Iran provided the green light for Hamas, PIJ, and the other Iran-backed groups to launch the pre-planned attack against Israel, using Iranian intelligence, training, and military supplies,” the lawsuit states. 

On the day of the attack, the lawsuit points to “approximately 3,800 Hamas-led terrorists” joined by “2,200 Gazans” who “burned victims alive” and “lit homes on fire”.

“They tortured and committed sexual violence against women and girls including rape, assault, and mutilation. They beheaded the living and the dead, sometimes laughing while doing so.” 

Claims of beheadings, while still circulating, were quickly debunked in the weeks after the attack. No independent investigation of the 7 October attacks, including that of the United Nations, has found evidence of rape. 

Not all the families involved in the lawsuit were civilian victims of that day’s attack. 

One of the families named among the plaintiffs is that of Itay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen who was a soldier in Gaza. He was killed in March of this year. 

Another is the family of Omer Balva, also a dual citizen who was killed along Israel’s border with Lebanon last year. 

Many others are Israeli army reservists who died. 

One family says the “​​mental anguish and extreme emotional distress” came from hearing the news of their son’s death in a “non-professional” manner.

This isn't the first lawsuit that has targeted Iran for the 7 October attacks. In late January, 67 victims and families of US citizens killed or captured in the attacks filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Washington DC, seeking compensation.

The plaintiffs in that case are seeking $1bn in damages.