A group of families affected by the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre has filed a landmark lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority (PA), seeking over NIS 1 billion (approximately $270 million) in damages for its alleged role in supporting and encouraging terrorism. Filed in the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday, the suit represents 208 relatives of 122 victims killed during the Nova music festival and surrounding attacks, as well as one survivor who was permanently disabled. Plaintiffs argue that the PA bears legal responsibility for financing and promoting terror activity that contributed to the massacre, which left over 1,200 Israelis dead and 252 abducted to Gaza. The case, filed under Israel’s Compensation for Victims of Hostile Action Act and the Torts Ordinance, alleges the PA has long provided financial rewards and ideological support to terrorists through stipends to imprisoned attackers and the families of so-called “martyrs.” Plaintiffs are seeking NIS 10 million per victim and NIS 5 million for the injured survivor. Attorneys for the families called the legal action “one of the largest of its kind ever brought against the Palestinian Authority.” In conjunction with the lawsuit, a motion was submitted to freeze NIS 1.1 billion ($297 million) in tax revenues that Israel collects and transfers to the PA—funds the plaintiffs argue could otherwise be used to further incentivize terror. The complaint outlines harrowing scenes from the Nova music festival, where heavily armed Hamas terrorists surrounded the event and carried out mass killings, abductions, and violence against women. Though not all attendees were at the primary target site, some were murdered while fleeing. In total, 399 festival-goers were killed and 44 taken hostage, according to the suit. “This support contributed directly to the October 7 events,” the plaintiffs’ legal team said in a statement, adding that the PA “finances, encourages, and glorifies terrorism.” The lawsuit also references a 2025 decision by Israel’s Supreme Court, which rejected a PA petition to overturn the Terror Victims Compensation Law. Chief Justice Yitzhak Amit at the time affirmed the PA’s continued financial links to terrorists and their families, calling such support a legitimate legal basis for compensation claims. Although Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree earlier this year purporting to cancel certain payments to the families of terrorists, the lawsuit argues the PA continues to indirectly fund individuals involved in attacks against Israelis. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)