°®Âþµº

The US Court of Appeal in Washington DC has dropped a case originally filed in 2004 against the  (PA) and the  (PLO), seeking $900 million in damages for American families affected by attacks against Israeli targets, allegedly carried out by Palestinian militants.

The court ruled that "the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants".

The case, known as "Shabtai Scott Shatsky vs. the Palestine Liberation Organisation, et al", was brought forward by American victims of a 2002 suicide bombing in the , who deemed the PLO and the PA responsible.

The Palestinian ministry of finance said the court rejected the appeal made by groups, submitted against the PLO and the PA in 2004.

The ministry said it was pleased by the ruling, adding that it was the result of the efforts made by its legal team in Washington.

The attack in question was carried out on 16 February 2002, when a suicide attacker detonated an explosive device inside a crowded pizza restaurant in the Israeli settlement of in the West Bank.

The attack killed two US nationals, 14-year-old Keren Shatsky, and injured 30 others, including four US nationals.

The US victims and their representatives based their lawsuit on the claim that the bombing was enabled by the PA and the PLO.

The PA currently faces 110 such cases in Israel.

Comment: 

In 2016, a US court threw out an appeal against a ruling demanding the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organisation pay over $650 million to American citizens and their loved ones for attacks in Israel in the early 2000s.

"The terror machine gun attacks and suicide bombings that triggered this suit and victimised these plaintiffs were unquestionably horrific," Judge John Koeltl wrote for the appeals court at the time.

"But the federal courts cannot exercise jurisdiction in a civil case beyond the limits prescribed by the due process clause of the Constitution, no matter how horrendous the underlying attacks or morally compelling the plaintiffs’ claims."

Follow us on ,  and  to stay connected