Arab Bank settles in US terror lawsuit

Arab Bank has reached a settlement with hundreds of US victims of attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories who filed a lawsuit accusing the bank of supporting terrorism.

A spokesperson for the bank confirmed to AFP that an agreement had been reached, but provided no details of the settlement. The amount of the settlement was not immediately revealed.

One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said the Bank would make a statement and declined to comment.

Last year, a US jury in a federal court in Brooklyn found the Jordan-based multinational liable for financing terrorism by transferring funds for members of Hamas.

A second trial, where a jury would determine how much the Bank should pay in damages to 17 of the plaintiffs, was due to start in Brooklyn next week.

Three hundred plaintiffs sued the Bank, including victims and relatives of victims of attacks carried out in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank between 2001 and 2004.

The Bank, which has assets worth $46.4 billion, bitterly contested the September 2014 verdict and vowed to appeal after the separate damages trial.

It complained about "incorrect and prejudicial rulings," and took issue with a litany of court rulings, instructions to the jury, and the admission and exclusion of evidence.

At trial, the defense said there was no evidence Bank executives supported terrorism and rejected any suggestion that the firm knowingly made payments to designated terrorists.

The plaintiffs said the bank transferred more than $70 million to an alleged Saudi terror entity, charities they claim were a front for Hamas and 11 globally-designated terrorist clients.