Families of Three Murdered Teenagers Sue Hamas for NIS 520M

Six years after their sons were abducted and murdered by Hamas terrorists, the families of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Sha’ar and Eyal Yifrach, Hy”d, are suing the Hamas terror organization, which planned and carried out the gruesome attack.

The Shurat Hadin organization has filed a lawsuit against Hamas for NIS 520 million ($155,000,000) in damages in the Yerushalayim District Court. This lawsuit, filed on behalf of the families, aims to stop the financial support sent by the Palestinian Authority to Hamas each year.

According to a comprehensive study conducted for the prosecution by Lt. Col. Alon Evyatar, an expert on the Palestinian arena and former adviser to the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the PA transfers between $50 million and $100 million each month to Hamas.

The study shows that the money is transferred to the Hamas ministries in the Gaza Strip, and to various bodies in Gaza that are under Hamas’s control. All funds that go to one of Hamas’s branches, the military arm, the political arm or the social arm, are considered Hamas funds and can be seized in favor of a lawsuit against Hamas.

Hamas terrorists Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha kidnapped the three boys on June 12, 2014, while they were hitchhiking home from school in Gush Etzion. Shortly after picking the teens up, the terrorists shot and buried them in a shallow grave.

The two terrorists were killed by Israeli forces three months after the abduction.

Terrorist cell leader Hossam Kawasme, who was captured by Israel, admitted in his interrogation that he was the mastermind behind the abduction and murder, and obtained funding for the attack from the Hamas.

He purchased the weapons for the attack and handed them over to Marwan Kawasme, another terrorist in the cell, and also purchased a vehicle for them to carry out the attack. He further admitted that he assisted the murderers after the attack in burying the boys’ bodies, concealing evidence from the burial scene, and helping them evade Israeli security forces.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassem Brigades, has also officially claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing.

The families of the three boys stated that “this lawsuit does not cure our pain, reduce our grief, or minimize our longing for our children. If the suit has the power to deter even a little of these evil forces, then it shall be our reward.”

Shurat Hadin head Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, representing the plaintiffs, noted that “this is a precedent-setting lawsuit. For the first time, funds from the Palestinian Authority will be confiscated for a terrorist attack carried out by Hamas.”

She said that if the PA continues to fund Hamas despite the foreclosure order, they will demand the amount of compensation from the tax money that Israel transfers to the PA.

“Either way, the Palestinian Authority will pay for its support of Hamas, and the victims of terrorism will be able to receive justice,” she stated.