A US jury has decided that Palestinian authorities should be held responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel that killed or wounded Americans.

Jurors also awarded the victims $US218.50 million ($A278 million) in damages.

The jury reached the decision at a civil trial in federal court in Manhattan on Monday. The US Anti-Terrorism Act could allow for that to be tripled.

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The plaintiffs sued the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian Authority in 2004 under the US Anti-Terrorism Act. The law allows victims of US-designated foreign terrorist organisations to seek compensation.

The plaintiffs said internal documents showed that the Palestinian authorities sanctioned six attacks from 2002 to 2004 that harmed 10 American families.

Defence lawyers argued that the attackers acted on their own.