Washington (CNN) The Supreme Court declined on Monday to revive a lawsuit brought by 11 American families against the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization.

The ruling, issued without comment from the justices, is a loss for victims and their family members who brought suit under federal law for seven terror attacks committed during a wave of violence in Israel.

In 2015, a US jury awarded the victims a $655.5 million judgment under the Anti-Terrorism Act. But a federal appeals court wiped away that judgment, holding that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction over the defendants in the case because they didn't have a strong enough connection to the United States to justify subjecting them to a lawsuit.

"The terror machine gun attacks and suicide bombings that triggered this suit and victimized these plaintiffs were unquestionably horrific," a panel of judges on the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit held. "But the federal courts cannot exercise jurisdiction in a civil case beyond the limits prescribed by the due process clause of the Constitution, no matter how horrendous the underlying attacks or morally compelling the plaintiff's claims."

Former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, an attorney for the family members, appealed the decision to the Supreme Court , arguing that the lower court opinion would "cut the heart out of a vital federal statute."

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