An Israeli court on Monday ordered Hamas to pay millions in compensation to the families of three teenagers abducted and killed by members of the Palestinian terrorist group in 2014.
The Jerusalem District Court ruling demands that Hamas and Hussam Qawasmeh, who are responsible for the kidnapping and killings, rule in Gaza, pay NIS 38 million ($ 11.8 million) to the families of Naftali Fraenkel , Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach.
Fraenkel, 16, Shaar, 16, and Yifrach, 19, were abducted by Hamas terrorists on the night of June 12, 2014 at a hitchhiking site in the West Bank south of Jerusalem.
Their bodies were discovered on June 30 in Halhul, near Hebron, after an 18-day search, and it was learned that they had been killed hours after the kidnapping.
Tensions escalated further after the subsequent assassination of Palestinian teenager Muhammed Abu Kdheir by Jewish extremists in an apparent revenge attack. The events were the main catalyst for the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which began on July 8.
“The fact that the youths were murdered at the time of the abduction and the murderers hid the tragic fate of the youths demonstrates their cruelty was also addressed directly to relatives, who remained uncertain during this period” of their children’s destinies, he wrote Judge Ilan Sela in sentencing.
The families of the three abducted and murdered teenagers, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach at the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem on October 5, 2014. (Marc Israel Sellem / Pool)
Families had demanded more than half a million shekels in compensation. Shurat HaDin, who filed the lawsuit last year on his behalf, criticized the 38 million NIS awarded by the court as insufficient and pledged to appeal.
“This is not how to deter a terrorist organization that has a budget of $ 1 billion and continues to assassinate Jews and shoot at Israeli citizens,” the legal group said in response, referring to the Gaza rocket against civilians in southern Israel.
When the lawsuit was filed, the families said the case was aimed at preventing the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, from transferring cash to Hamas.
The lawsuit cited a study conducted for the families’ legal team by a former senior official with COGAT (the Ministry of Defense unit in charge of liaising with the Palestinians) that claimed that the Palestinian Authority transfers between 50 and $ 100 million a month to Hamas. There are no official figures on the amount of money transferred by the PA to Hamas and it is still unclear how it has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a demand that sets precedents. For the first time, Palestinian Authority funds will be confiscated for a terrorist attack carried out by Hamas. If the Palestinian Authority refuses to comply with the foreclosure order and continues to fund Hamas despite the order, we will demand the amount of compensation for the tax money that the State of Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority. ” Shurat’s lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said Hadin at the time.
In 2019, the tax revenue transferred to the Palestinian Authority by Israel accounted for approximately 60 percent of the Palestinian budget.