Some 124 family members of Israelis murdered on October 7 are suing the Palestinian Authority and terror organizations in Gaza for their actions.
"The economic war against the terrorists is the only way to defeat them and prevent the next murder; soon they will pay dearly for their actions," said Morris Schneider, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, who is the brother of the late Margit Silberman and uncle of Shiri Bibas, who is still being held captive with her two children in Gaza. Her husband, Yarden is also a Hamas hostage.
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According to the lawsuit: "The Palestinian Authority funds the Gaza Strip, including the Hamas Government directly, by investing in civil infrastructure, salaries for public employees and officials, and payment of salaries to prisoners and family members of shahids (martyrs) from the terrorist organization."
In this first lawsuit filed against the Palestinian Authority since the outbreak of the war, the family members are demanding compensation of 100 million shekels per plaintiff.
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Many houses in Kibbutz Be'eri were destroyed as a result of the Oct. 7 massacre
(Photo: Gil Nehushtan)
"We will hunt down every terrorist and each organization that funded the terrible massacre that took my family members and the other terror victims from us," said Schneider, whose sister was murdered in her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz with her husband Yossi.
Among the plaintiffs are also the family of the late Lt. Col. Yehonatan Tzor, who fell in Kerem Shalom; the family of the late Amit Mann who was murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri; the family of the late Kobi Pariente who was murdered in Sderot; the family of the late Eliyahu Orgad who was murdered in Kibbutz Kfar Aza; the family of the late Lior Weizman, who was murdered in Sderot; the family of the late Igal Wachs, who was murdered in Netiv HaAsara; and the families of Jonathan Rom and Adam Ilayev who were murdered at the Nova party.
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Some of the remnants from the Nova music festival where hundreds were murdered
(Photo: Yuval Chen)
The lawsuit was filed with the District Court in Jerusalem, with the assistance of the Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center. "The only way to eliminate the Hamas organization is by cutting off its economic life support," said Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the president of the organization that represents the victims.
“Alongside the military effort, we must continue to act on the economic-legal axis against them, because as soon as they still have means of funding, they will be able to re-establish themselves in the future. If we want to eliminate Hamas completely, not only in Gaza, but also abroad and in Judea and Samaria, we must cut them off from any economic viability," she said.