When the attack occurred, Gill was in the service of Israel's public security minister at the time, Avi Dichter. Gill was an aide to Dichter, according to the complaint, when he was wounded by gunshots fired by a sniper. Gill said in court papers that an individual claiming to be from Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, had claimed responsibility for the gunfire on a Hamas-run website.
Gill is a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, and he sued Jordan-based Arab Bank in 2011, claiming that the bank provided material support to Hamas and coordinated payments to families of Hamas group members. Gill sought damages under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act, under which victims of attacks by U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations may seek compensation. The U.S. State Department has declared Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
A lawyer for Gill said that he intended to appeal. Bob Chlopak, a spokesman for Arab Bank said in a statement, “This is the first Arab Bank case where the court has evaluated the entire record, and it dismissed the case concluding that the bank was not responsible for the plaintiff's injuries.”
The case is Gill v. Arab Bank, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 11-3706.
