Families Sue Hezbollah for NIS 80 Million Over Majdal Shams attack

Eight bereaved families from the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights have filed a landmark lawsuit against Hezbollah, demanding NIS 80 million in damages after a deadly rocket strike killed 12 children in July 2024. The lawsuit, filed in the Jerusalem District Court, invokes a newly passed Knesset law designed to support Israeli victims of terrorism with legal avenues for compensation.

The missile that struck Majdal Shams carried a 53-kilogram Iranian-made warhead and was fired from Shebaa an area under Hezbollah control deliberately targeting a soccer field filled with children. The devastating attack shocked the nation, claiming young lives and wounding dozens more in a peaceful, civilian setting.

The lawsuit is led by attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Shurat HaDin, a legal organization known for pioneering terror litigation. “Justice must be done precisely now, when the Hezbollah terror organization is wounded and defeated,” said Darshan-Leitner. “With unparalleled cruelty, they deliberately, and with Iranian funding, took the lives of 12 innocent boys and girls.”

An additional NIS 165 million lawsuit has also been filed on behalf of 30 residents injured in the same attack, further raising the legal and moral stakes for Hezbollah in both Israeli and international arenas.

Laith Abu Saleh, whose child was among those murdered, spoke at the filing. “About a year and a half ago, my life was destroyed beyond recognition,” he said. “This lawsuit will not bring our children back, but it seeks to do a small measure of justice and to establish clear responsibility for the deliberate harm to innocent civilians.”

The legal action sends a firm message that terror groups will be pursued not just on the battlefield, but also in courtrooms. It also reflects Israel's growing use of the law to deter those who intentionally target civilians particularly children with indiscriminate attacks.

“Even though no lawsuit has the power to heal our pain or return our loved ones,” Abu Saleh added, “it is meant to set a clear boundary firing rockets at a civilian population is a shocking crime, and those responsible must be held accountable.”

As Israel continues to defend its borders and citizens from threats to the north and south, this legal step by the Majdal Shams families serves as a reminder: the fight for justice doesn't end with the sirens it continues until those behind terror are exposed, confronted, and held liable.

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