By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge in New York on Thursday rejected an effort from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to dismiss a lawsuit from 9/11 terror attack survivors and victims’ families alleging that the country assisted the hijackers in the lead up to the deadliest attack on US soil in its history.

US District Judge George Daniels found that the plaintiffs’ claims were sufficient enough to allow the landmark civil case to go to trial and let the yearslong legal battle continue.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the government of Saudi Arabia had a role in backing an extremist support network that assisted the hijackers in the US leading up to the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied the suit’s allegations.

Attorneys for the families at a hearing last year laid out evidence they said revealed the support network involving several high-ranking Saudi officials working in the US, which they say facilitated the hijackers’ movements across the country.

Daniels wrote in his opinion that Saudi Arabia’s “attempts to offer seemingly innocent explanations or context” in response to the suit’s allegations were “either self-contradictory or not strong enough to overcome the inference that” the Kingdom had employed two individuals, Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy, to assist the hijackers in the lead up to the 9/11 attacks.

The plaintiffs have alleged in filings that Thumairy, a diplomat stationed in the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, was the main designated contact person for al Qaeda and the hijackers in Los Angeles. They also claim that Thumairy worked closely with Bayoumi in orchestrating the support system for the hijackers during their time in California before their eventual move east.

Saudi Arabia has maintained that Bayoumi was a student devoutly involved with a San Diego mosque whose congregants unknowingly helped the hijackers out of hospitality to the newcomers who did not speak English.

Michael Kellogg, an attorney for Saudi Arabia, argued at the hearing last year that any assistance provided by Bayoumi was “limited and wholly innocent.” Kellogg pinned his arguments on Bayoumi’s 2021 deposition, his interviews with law enforcement and conclusions from the 9/11 Commission report.

In a statement provided to CNN, a spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s embassy said they were “reviewing” the decision.

“Saudi Arabia respectfully disagrees with the decision, believes it has solid grounds for appeal, and intends to pursue such an appeal. We note that the decision is limited to the issue of jurisdiction and does not decide the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims against Saudi Arabia, claims that Saudi Arabia categorically denies,” the statement added.

Terry Strada, the chair of 9/11 Families United, a coalition of victims’ families and survivors pursuing transparency, celebrated Daniels’ ruling in a statement Thursday.

“Today’s decision is another powerful step toward justice,” he said. “We are prepared to move forward and present the full scope of evidence in court, so that the truth is undeniable and justice is finally delivered.”

While 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, Saudi Arabia has consistently denied any government involvement in the attacks. The US has long said its strategic Middle East partner had no role and that al Qaeda acted on its own in hijacking four commercial airplanes and flying them into the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon. A fourth plane, United Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania.

But allegations of Saudi complicity have persisted, and litigation against Saudi Arabia has evolved in the last two decades, eventually being condensed into the current multi-district litigation.

Co-lead attorneys Jodi Westbrook Flowers and Donald Migliori of Motley Rice LLC, one of the firms representing plaintiffs in the case, also praised Daniels’ ruling in a statement to CNN on Thursday.

“Today’s landmark decision in the September 11, 2001 case marks an important day for justice. The court concluded ‘the total evidence creates a high probability as to Bayoumi and Thumairy’s roles in the hijacker’s plans, and the related role of their employer (Saudi Arabia)’ and noted that a public trial will determine the rest,” the statement said.

CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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