A federal jury in New York has ordered the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation to pay $218.5 million to victims of several attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004, media reported.

The court considered the two organisations responsible for the attacks and ruled in favour of a group of American victims seeking compensation under civil law.

The monetary compensation awarded Monday might well be tripled because, under US law, those attacks are considered terrorist actions.

The jury’s verdict puts an end to a legal battle that has gone on for almost a decade and that was finally tried this year in a Manhattan court.

The lawsuit was entered by more than 40 American victims of seven attacks around Jerusalem, in which 33 people were killed and many others were wounded during the second Intifada.

The plaintiffs were supported by the 1991 Anti-Terrorism Act, a federal law that allows US victims of international terrorist attacks to file lawsuits with federal courts.

The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation were charged with responsibility for planning and executing the attacks — something the two organisations have been denying all the time.

The Palestinians also argued that US courts have no jurisdiction to judge what happened in the Middle East.