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Bereaved families sue PA for $55m over ‘pay for slay’

The legislation requires courts to award punitive damages of at least 10 million shekels (~$2.7 million) per fatal casualty.

By JNS

Dozens of bereaved Israeli families, including some who lost loved ones in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, have filed a 210 million shekel (about $55,813 million) lawsuit in the Jerusalem District Court against the Western-backed Palestinian Authority over its support for terrorism.

The lawsuit marked the first legal action taken since the Knesset passed the “Compensation for Terror Victims Bill” in March, Ynet noted on Monday.

The legislation requires courts to award punitive damages of at least 10 million shekels (~$2.7 million) per fatal casualty.

To ease the collection of the awards, judgment may be enforced against “any property of the defendant, including any property seized or frozen by the State of Israel.”

The families included in the first class action base their claim on the fact that the P.A. “encouraged, supported and sanctioned” the terrorist attacks in which their loved ones were murdered, their lawyer told Ynet.

“The war on terror is currently focused in two areas: in the Gaza Strip and in the courtrooms,” said attorney Barak Kedem of the Jerusalem-based Arbus, Kedem, Tzur law firm in a statement cited by the website.

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“In Gaza, our soldiers are fighting terrorism. In the courtrooms, we fight the encouragement of terrorism by the Palestinian Authority, which pays vast monthly salaries to terrorists in exchange for the blood they shed, the blood of righteous and pure men, women and children,” he added.

The remarks referred to Ramallah’s “pay for slay” policy, under which it disburses monthly stipends to convicted terrorists and to the families of slain terrorists.

The Martyrs’ Fund is enshrined in P.A. law, granting terrorists or their next of kin the right to receive payments as long as they live.

Among the plaintiffs are families whose relatives were murdered in recent years, including in the ax attack in the central city of Elad on Independence Day in 2022 and the Oct. 7 slaughter at the Supernova festival.

Since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israeli communities near Gaza, the P.A. has added thousands of Palestinians to its list of people who qualify to receive terror stipends, an Israeli watchdog reported in January.

P.A. officials announced that 3,550 more terrorists imprisoned in Israel would qualify for payouts, as will the families of more than 20,000 slain “martyrs,” Jerusalem-based Palestine Media Watch (PMW) said.