The parents of the 3 teens (archive)
The parents of the 3 teens (archive)Yoni Kempinski

The families of the three teenagers who were kidnapped and murdered in the summer of 2014 launched a lawsuit against the Hamas terrorist organization which was responsible for their sons' murders.

Naftali Frankel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists while hitchhiking near the town of Alon Shvut in Gish Etzion six years ago. Their murders sparked an escalation of violence which resulted in Operation Protective Edge, a lengthy conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

The Shurat HaDin legal organization has filed a NIS 520 million ($155 million) tort claim against Hamas on behalf of the families of the three boys in the Jerusalem District Court

This lawsuit is intended to stop the Palestinian Authority transferring funds from its budget to Hamas each year. The families are represented by Adv. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, Avi Segal and Avi Gaz.

According to a comprehensive study conducted for the prosecution by Lt. Col. Alon Eviatar, an expert on the Palestinian Authority and former Palestinian adviser to COGAT, the Palestinian Authority transfers between $50 million and $100 million monthly to Hamas.

The study shows that the money is transferred to the Hamas government ministries in Gaza, and to various bodies in Gaza that are under Hamas control. In addition, the report states that all the money that goes to one of the branches of Hamas, be it the military, political or social branch, is considered Hamas money and can be seized.

The leader of the terrorist cell which carried out the kidnappings, Hussam Qawasmeh, admitted in his interrogation that he was the mastermind behind the abduction and murder, and that he had obtained funding for the attack from Hamas. He purchased the weapons for the attack and handed them over to Marwan Qawasmeh, another terrorist from the same cell, and also purchased the vehicle used in the operation. He further admitted that he assisted the killers after the attack in burying the boys' bodies, concealing evidence from the scene of the burial, and escaping from security forces. Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, also claimed responsibility for the murders.

The families of the three boys said: "This lawsuit, of course, does not cure our pain, reduce our grief, or minimize our longing for our children. If the lawsuit has the power to deter even a little of these evil forces, then that will be what we get out of it."

The president of the Shurat HaDin organization, Adv. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, stated: "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. If the Palestinian Authority refuses to honor the foreclosure, and continues to fund Hamas despite the foreclosure order, we will demand the amount of compensation from the tax money that the State of Israel transfers to the Palestinian Authority. Either way, the Palestinian Authority will pay for its support for Hamas, and the victims of terrorism will be able to receive justice. What the state is failing to do - stopping the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into the Hamas organization from the Palestinian Authority, the victims of terrorism will succeed in doing."