Families of Majdal Shams victims file suit against Hezbollah

Families of Druze children killed during Israel’s war with Hezbollah filed a lawsuit in Jerusalem District Court on Sunday, seeking 80 million shekels (almost $26 million) in damages from the Lebanese terrorist group.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of eight of the 12 families whose children were killed when a Hezbollah rocket struck a packed soccer field in the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on July 27, 2024, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported.

The attack was the second-largest massacre during the Swords of Iron war, after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack in the northeastern Gaza.

The families are seeking punitive damages under the Compensation of Victims of Terrorism Bill (Exemplary Compensation) that the Knesset passed in March 2024.

A separate lawsuit against Hezbollah is being prepared on behalf of more than 30 people wounded in the rocket attack on the border town. It is expected to demand 165 million shekels ($53 million) in damages, Kan reported.

The rocket killed 12 boys and girls and wounded at least 42 others.

“The lawsuit now being filed against Hezbollah will not bring our children back, but it seeks to do a measure of justice and to establish clear responsibility for the deliberate harm inflicted on innocent civilians,” said Laith Abu Saleh, the father of 16-year-old Fajr, who was killed on the soccer field, Kan reported.

Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represents the plaintiffs, told the public broadcaster: “Justice must be done precisely now, when the terrorist organization Hezbollah is battered and defeated. … With unparalleled cruelty, and with Iranian funding, they deliberately cut short the lives of 12 innocent boys and girls. The battle will continue in the legal arena all the way to achieving justice for the victims of terrorism.”

According to Kan, the lawsuit holds that the rocket that hit Majdal Shams was manufactured in Iran and was deliberately launched from the Lebanese town of Shebaa, from across the border, directly at the soccer field.

“Firing rockets at a civilian population is a shocking crime, and those responsible must be held to account,” Abu Saleh was quoted as saying.

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