New York: Palestinian authorities found liable in a high-profile lawsuit over Americans killed in attacks must pay $10 million (Dh36.7 million) in cash — and an additional $1 million monthly payment while the case is on appeal — to secure the hundreds of millions awarded by a jury, a US judge said on Monday.

In ordering the security payment, Manhattan federal Judge George B. Daniels said he had given significant thought to a motion filed this month by the US State Department, which intervened in the case via the Department of Justice to argue a high bond could threaten the stability of the region by straining the cash-strapped Palestinians.

The payment also mirrored the amount proposed by a lawyer for the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), who argued that forcing the Palestinians to front an expensive bond payment would have dire human costs for the people living in the territories.

“Respectfully, a million means a lot to the Palestinian [National] Authority,” Mitchell Berger told the judge, noting that the amount could cover welfare for 9,500 families or build one school in Gaza.

Kent Yalowitz, a lawyer representing victims and survivors of attacks that killed 33 people and injured hundreds more, had asked that the Palestinians pay $20 million, describing the ordered payment as a “rounding error” for them. He has said the Palestinian National Authority has more than enough funds to make a higher bond payment, arguing it spends $60 million annually on paying “terrorists” held in Israeli prisons.

“I’m disappointed in the amount,” he said. “I’m eager to get the appellate process completed.”

The six bombings and shootings killed 33 people and wounded more than 390 others between January 2002 and January 2004.

They were carried out by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades — blacklisted as “terrorist organisations” in the United States — during the second Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation.

The plaintiffs argued that the PNA and PLO were responsible for providing material support to the groups, and the court heard that members of both groups were on the PNA and PLO payroll.

Defence lawyers said there was no conclusive evidence that the senior leadership of the PNA or PLO were involved in planning or approving specific acts of violence.

They disputed that the leadership should be held responsible for “crazy” attacks carried out by people who acted independently.

The six attacks took place against Hebrew University, in Jaffa Road, King George Street, against the number 19 bus and in French Hill, an illegal Jewish colony in occupied East Jerusalem.

If the Palestinians pay $10 million to the court by next month and then continue to make $1 million monthly payments, the jury-awarded damages won’t be collected until the appeals court rules in the case, Daniels said.

A jury awarded $218.5 million in damages this year in a lawsuit brought by victims and survivors of a series of bombings and shootings in Israeli-claimed territory from 2002 to 2004. The damages were automatically tripled by the US Anti-Terrorism Act.

Lawyers for the Palestinians have vowed to appeal. A State Department spokesman declined to comment on Monday on the judge’s order.