Funeral of Aisha Rabi
Funeral of Aisha RabiNasser Ishtayeh/Flash 90

The Ministry of Defense has decided to recognize the death of Aisha Rabi, the Palestinian Arab woman who was killed after her car was hit by rocks allegedly thrown by Jews in Samaria - as an act of hostility, Ynet reported on Sunday.

The authority within the Defense Ministry which is responsible for the issue decided to recognize the incident after Rabi’s family members applied to the National Insurance Institution demanding compensation.

Under Israeli law, only Israeli citizens or residents who have an entry permit into Israel can be recognized as victims of hostile acts. Rabi did not meet either of those two criteria.

Nevertheless, an exception was made in her case, though her family will only be eligible to receive the rights associated with such a recognition following approval by a special inter-ministerial committee.

The Defense Ministry said, "The incident during which the Palestinian Aisha Rabi was killed as a result of a rock being thrown at the vehicle in which she was traveling was recognized as a hostile act. Rabi is not an Israeli citizen and therefore does not meet the criteria for receiving rights as a victim of hostilities from the National Insurance Institute. Her family has the right to appeal, beyond the letter of the law, to the inter-ministerial committee for the payment of compensation to victims on nationalistic grounds, which discusses such cases."

The family's lawyer said that "the Defense Ministry's decision which, unfortunately, was made after considerable delay, paves the way for further legal proceedings, including demolition of the terrorist's home and appeal to the International Court of Justice."