American billionaire accused of using USAID funds for 'terror tunnels' in Gaza resigns from Harvard position

A billionaire Palestinian-American who has been accused by the families of victims of the Oct. 7 massacre of “aiding and abetting” Hamas has stepped down from his position on the dean’s council at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

According to The New York Post, Bashar Masri resigned from his position at the Ivy League university days after 200 family members of victims of the terrorist attack in Israel sued him in federal court for allegedly aiding the construction of terror tunnels and rocket launchers in Gaza.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy School of Government told the outlet, “Mr. Masri has resigned from the Dean’s Council. The lawsuit raises serious allegations that should be vetted and addressed through the legal process.”

Masri allegedly took millions of dollars of US government funding for development projects in the Gaza Strip, but those properties included “terror infrastructure” later discovered by the Israel Defense Forces, according to the complaint, including tunnels at an industrial park near Israel’s border and a base of operations with rocket sites at two hotels.

Masri oversaw construction projects at the sites through a holding company, Massar International, and businesses he chairs, including the Palestine Development and Investment Company (PADICO).

In the lawsuit, Masri is being accused of using United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and international-funded Gaza infrastructure projects to help Hamas build their terror tunnel network.

According to the lawsuit, Masri allegedly rebuilt the Gaza Industrial Estate (GIE), a 480,000 square meter industrial park that had been established in 1997 with support from USAID, turning it into a hub of Hamas operations including for the terrorist tunnel network, which was used to cross under the border to attack Israelis.

The suit stated, "Above ground, the GIE was a showcase for legitimate businesses like Coca-Cola and a variety of light manufacturing companies. But beneath the surface, Masri and the companies he controls worked with Hamas to construct and conceal an elaborate subterranean attack tunnel network that 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 claimed that Masri "personally presided over the signing of a joint venture agreement with Hamas to rebuild parts of the GIE," with Abd al-Fattah al-Zari’I, a Hamas manufacturing division commander and economy minister, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in August for his role in organizing terror attacks and stealing humanitarian aid.

Masri allegedly worked with Hamas to supply the tunnel system with electricity from solar power and green energy technology that were funded by the US, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The families of the Oct 7 massacre victims are seeking to hold Masri accountable under the US Anti-Terrorism Act.

The lawsuit presented evidence that Palestinian investors raised money from the World Bank, the UN, and the EU to build projects but coordinated with Hamas to develop the subterranean tunnels where hostages were held. According to the complaint, two luxury hotels held by Masri’s companies were involved in facilitating Hamas’s terrorist activities, and former Hamas head, Yahya Sinwar, was operating out of these locations.

Masri previously admitted to helping with “planning” the First Intifada of 1987 against Israel.