A New York City appeals courtroom was packed with families of 9/11 victims as three judges heard arguments on whether legal claims against Saudi Arabia can proceed. The hearing, held on Wednesday, attracted more than 100 relatives and survivors, who had gathered to support the lawsuit that alleges the Kingdom aided at least two of the 19 hijackers who crashed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
The judges made it clear that the case remains mired in unresolved legal questions, despite having been pending for nearly a quarter‑century. They did not set a date for a ruling on whether the claims can advance to trial, nor did they decide whether Saudi Arabia should be dismissed on sovereign‑immunity grounds.
Terry Strada, whose husband Tom Strada was killed in the attacks, said she was encouraged by the judges’ probing questions. “It really was a good day for us,” she said. “The judges asked really meaningful questions and hammered the Saudi attorneys and didn’t let up. They weren’t buying what the Saudis were selling.”
The lawsuit seeks to hold Saudi officials accountable for allegedly assisting hijackers and funding charities that supported al‑Qaida. While 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi nationals, the Saudi government has long denied involvement. Lawyers for the victims’ families argue that extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia aided the plot, whereas Saudi counsel points to a 1990s partnership with the United States against terrorism. The case was allowed to proceed by U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels in August 2025, though he did not address the merits of the claims.
