A Palestinian-American billionaire is being accused of spending USAID funds to help Hamas terrorists build their network of terror tunnels that is used to cross under the border into Israel to kill civilians.
Bashar Masri, who also sits on the board of Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, is reportedly being sued after evidence showed that he obtained funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and international funding for Gaza infrastructure projects, and used that money to help the Hamas terror group rather than actually help civilians.
The lawsuit was filed on April 7 on behalf of the victims of the horrific October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, and was filed by law firms Osen LLC, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP, and Motley Rice LLC. Masri is being accused of using USAID funds to embed terror infrastructure inside supposed “economic development” projects in Gaza.
According to the lawsuit, in 2021, Masri allegedly used USAID funds to rebuild the Gaza Industrial Estate (GIE) — which is a 480,000 square meter industrial park built in 1997. He then reportedly turned the GIE into a hub of operations for Hamas, which included helping to build more of the terror group’s tunnels.
“Above ground, the GIE was a showcase for legitimate businesses like Coca-Cola and a variety of light manufacturing companies,” the lawsuit states. “But beneath the surface, Masri and the companies he controls worked with Hamas to construct and conceal an elaborate subterranean attack tunnel network which Hamas used to burrow under the border into Israel, to attack nearby Israeli communities, and to ambush Israeli military personnel. Hamas also used the GIE to probe the border fence and test the IDF’s response times and countermeasures in the lead up to the October 7 Attack.”
The lawsuit goes on to claim that in May 2022, Masri “personally presided over the signing of a joint venture agreement with Hamas to rebuild parts of the GIE,” reportedly signing on to the document alongside now-deceased Hamas Manufacturing Division Commander and Economy Minister Abd al-Fattah al-Zari’l.
HUGE BREAKING: Major Lawsuit Filed Over Oct. 7 Hamas Attack
Families of American victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre have filed a giant federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. against Palestinian-American billionaire Bashar Masri and four of his companies.
Let's break it down 🧵 pic.twitter.com/P4vOdhDKHX
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) April 7, 2025
Masri has also been accused of working alongside Hamas to generate solar-powered and green energy technology to provide electricity for the terror tunnels. The money used to do so reportedly came from the U.S., the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The lawsuit also accuses two luxury hotels owned by Masri’s companies of being involved in facilitating Hamas terrorism, citing several factors including the fact that now-deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been operating out of those hotels.
The plaintiffs have demanded that Masri and his companies be held accountable for his actions, including allegedly contributing to the October 7 attack, under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act.
“We can’t go back to a pre-October 7 mindset where people pretend that it is possible to support economic development in a Gaza controlled by Hamas without also supporting its terrorist infrastructure,” said Izhar Shay, the mother of one of the victims of the October 7 massacre and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
This news comes after the families of October 7 victims also filed a lawsuit against the U.S.-based group “Students for Justice in Palestine,” which has also been accused of directly helping Hamas terrorists carry out attacks in Israel:
