Willkie Leads New Suit Blaming Gaza Developer for Hamas Attack

Willkie Farr & Gallagher is spearheading a lawsuit against Palestinian-American businessman Bashar Masri and his companies for allegedly providing a safe haven in Gaza for Hamas to execute the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Willkie litigation partners Lee Wolosky and Andrew Lichtman filed the complaint Monday in a federal court in Washington, representing American attack victims and their family members. The group accuses Masri of working with Hamas “to build and maintain its attack tunnel infrastructure” that “aided and abetted” attacks, which resulted in more than 1,000 deaths and 250 people taken as hostages.

It’s the second case that Wolosky and Lichtman have taken on in recent weeks over alleged antisemitism. The pair, along with Willkie partner Alex Weingarten, filed an appearance in a lawsuit against University of California-Berkeley brought by Jewish students that blamed the university for the “longstanding, unchecked spread of antisemitism” that spread after the Oct. 7 attack.

The firm is home to Doug Emhoff, who is married to former Vice President Kamala Harris. Willkie on April 1 struck an agreement with the White House to commit at least $100 million in pro bono work to avoid a punitive executive order like those Trump has targeted at other firms. Willkie committed to put the money behind causes that the firm and Trump support, including assisting military veterans, “ensuring fairness in our justice system,” and “combating antisemitism,” the president said in a Truth Social post.

“This lawsuit results from a year of investigation that revealed extensive evidence about how the Defendants’ properties are riddled with Hamas terror infrastructure, including attack tunnels and rocket launching facilities,” a Willkie spokesperson said. The spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether the firm was working pro bono on the case and if its efforts would count toward its tab with Trump.

Masri’s office in a statement to Bloomberg Law denied the accusations in the lawsuit, saying he “will seek the dismissal of these false allegations in court.”

Wolosky, who worked in the Biden and Obama administrations, has steered other high-profile cases on behalf of terrorism victims. He was part of a group that sued Iran for allegedly supporting the Hamas attack.

Three other major law firms have reached similar agreements with Trump—Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, and Milbank LLP—while Kirkland & Ellis, the world’s largest firm, is in talks to cut a deal. The Paul Weiss agreement came after Trump issued an order directing federal agencies to revoke lawyers’ security clearances, restrict access to government buildings and scrap contracts with the firm’s clients.

Masri is a prominent developer who allegedly operated hotels and other properties 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.” The suit does not accuse him of being aware of the attack ahead of time.

Wolosky and Lichtman joined Willkie in February from Jenner & Block, another firm targeted by Trump’s executive orders. Jenner, like WilmerHale and Perkins Coie, sued to block the order against it. All three firms quickly won court orders freezing much of the orders.

Wolosky, a litigator and former US ambassador, leads Willkie’s new national security and cross-border litigation practice. He worked in the Biden White House as special counsel and helped advise on issues related to the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also previously served until President Obama as Special Envoy for the Guantanamo Bay closure.

Willkie is teaming up with Osen LLC—a New Jersey firm that focuses on “civil counterterrorism litigation” and also worked on the Iran suit—as well as Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner, and Motley Rice in its case against Masri.

The case is Shalom v. Masri, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-01024, 4/7/2025