The Ungars estate sued Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Islamic group Hamas in March 2000 in a Providence, Rhode Island, United States federal court house for wrongful death due to the defendants' encouragement of terrorism in the Kiryat Arba region.

[3] In 1996, country ownership of the region was disputed and residence of Kiryat Arba had been subjected to multiple terrorist attacks.

[3][4] When they drove near moshav Gefen, two Palestinian gunmen pulled up alongside in a Mitsubishi van and fired 20 bullets into the front seat of the Ungar's moving car.

[3] The attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant cell, belonging to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, from the West Bank village of Surif.

[7][8] The estate sought $250 million in the civil lawsuit for the June 9, 1996 drive-by shooting murders of Ungars near Bet Shemesh, Israel due to the defendants encouragement of terrorism in the region.