A federal appeals court in New York has thrown out a $655.5 million verdict rendered last year that had held the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization liable for their roles in supporting terrorist attacks in Israel that claimed American lives.

In reversing the verdict on Wednesday in the case, which drew the attention of the Obama administration, the appeals court did not minimize the impact of the six terrorist attacks, which occurred from 2002 to 2004, but it held that the Federal District Court in Manhattan had lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.

“The terror machine-gun attacks and suicide bombings that triggered this suit and victimized these plaintiffs were unquestionably horrific,” said a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Manhattan.

“But the federal courts cannot exercise jurisdiction in a civil case beyond the limits prescribed by the due process clause of the Constitution,” the court added, “no matter how horrendous the underlying attacks or morally compelling the plaintiffs’ claims.”