Palestinian doctor sues Israel for killing daughters

A Palestinian doctor has appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court for compensation over a 2009 strike by the occupying entity on the besieged Gaza Strip that claimed the lives of three of his daughters and a niece.

Izzeldin Abuelaish attended a long-delayed hearing on Monday during which he sought justice for what was described as an “act of war” by Israel in January 2009, when a tank strike on his Gaza home killed his daughters Aya, 14, Bessan, 21, and Mayar, 15, as well as his niece Noor, 17. Shada, another daughter, survived but was wounded.

The Israeli military has acknowledged that the strike was aimed at the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. A lower court also sided with the regime’s military in 2018 but no compensation has so far been offered.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom before the hearing, Abuelaish said he felt his daughters were with him and that he was “coming to advocate for the truth and their rights.”

Thirteen years have passed since Palestinian Ezz El-Din Abu El-Aish lost his three daughters to an Israeli tank shell that struck their house in Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City.

Other family members living in the same house were also wounded by Israeli army fire during a three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip that began on Dec. 27, 2008.

The Israeli onslaught, known as Operation Cast Lead, resulted in the massacre of about 1,400 Palestinians and thousands injured.