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Families of murdered boys file massive lawsuit against PA, Hamas; seek half billion shekels

Families of boys abducted and murdered by Hamas in 2014 are suing for 520 million shekels.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

An Israeli civil rights organization filed a 520 million shekel ($150 million) claim against Hamas on behalf of the families of the three Israeli high school boys kidnapped and murdered by the terror organization in 2014.

The lawsuit is intended to stop the Palestinian Authority from transferring funds from its budget to Hamas each year, Channel 20 reported Sunday.

The Israel Law Center-Shurat HaDin filed the lawsuit in the Jerusalem District Court six years after Hamas planned and carried out the attack against the teens – Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel.

According to a comprehensive study conducted for Shurat HaDin by an expert in Palestinian affairs, the Palestinian Authority transfers between $50 million and $100 million monthly to the Hamas government offices in Gaza and to various bodies under Hamas control.

The suit claims that all the money that goes to any of the Hamas offices under Hamas authority can be seized.

The head of the terrorist cell in the attack, Hossam Qawasmeh, admitted in his interrogation that he was the leader of the cell behind the abduction and murder and that he obtained funding for the attack from Hamas. The Hamas military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassem Brigades, also officially claimed responsibility for the abduction and killings.

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“This lawsuit, of course, does not cure our pain, reduce our grief, or diminish our longing for our children. If the prosecution has the power to deter even a little of these evil forces, then it was our reward,” the families of the three boys said in a statement.

One of the architects of an Israeli law designed to block transfers of tax money the Palestinians use to reward terrorism said lawsuits are an effective tool to fight terrorism. Maurice Hirsch, head of Legal Strategies at the watchdog NGO Palestinian Media Watch, has been working to undermine the financial basis the Palestinians use to support terrorism.

“In order to conduct their activities and carry out terror attacks, terrorist organizations need money. Bankrupting the terrorists and the organizations that support, promote and reward terror will certainly save lives,” Hirsch told World Israel News.