A group of Palestinian Authority Arabs is demanding NIS 40 million from the state, saying their land was used to build the town of Homesh. The group was offered compensation for use of the land when the IDF began using the area for security purposes, but rejected the offered money. Those who own property in what was once Homesh decided to demand retroactive compensation payments after the city was destroyed in 2005.
Sources quoted in Haaretz said an Israeli court would probably rule in favor of the Arabs. Officials are attempting to settle the case out of court, they said, and are likely to agree to pay at least NIS 20 million to resolve the claim.