A $1 billion lawsuit filed on Tuesday in New York state court against the Bank of China alleges that it “intentionally and recklessly” provided services to terrorist groups via its New York branch. The suit was filed by the families of eight Israeli high school students who were murdred on March 2008 in a shooting in Jerusalem, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The civil lawsui alleges that the Bank of China made dozens of wire transfers for the Hamas terrorist gorp, to the tune of several million dollars, starting in 2003.

The money transfers were coordinated by the Hamas from Iran and Syria, according to the lawsuit, and was processed through the U.S. branches of the Bank of China, then sent to a Bank of China account in China owned by the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. From there the money was transferred to the Gaza strip and the PA territories, to fund terrorist attacks.

According to the lawsuit, Israeli officials met with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and China’s central bank in 2005, to urge them to prevent the Bank of China from making these wire transfers, but they were ignored.

A representative for Bank of China in New York could not be reached by Dow Jones Newswires.

Five families are named as plaintiffs in the Bank of China suit seeking $1 billion in compensatory and punitive damages. Eight students died on March 6, 2008, when Islamist terrorist entered the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem and started shooting at the students.