This editorial by the MA’AN NEWS AGENCY (16 November 2018) reports on the judgement of the Beer Sheba District Court, in the case of 15-year-old Gaza resident Attiya Fathi al-Nabahin and his family. The case was brought by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Adalah on behalf of the claimants.

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Attiya was fired at by Israeli forces on November 11th 2014, while he was on his family’s property near a refugee camp located half a kilometre away from the security border fence with Israel. The shooting caused permanent injury; Attiya is permanently paralyzed in all his limbs and is confined to a wheelchair. He and his family are now seeking damages from the Israeli army.

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The court rejected the claim, basing its decision on Article 5/B-1 of the 8th Amendment of Israel’s Civil Wrongs Law (State Responsibility) of 1952, which provides that residents of a territory declared by the Israeli government to be ‘enemy territory’ are not eligible to seek compensation from Israel. Gaza was designated ‘enemy territory’ in 2007 following the election of Hamas in Gaza. In October 2014, the Civil Wrongs Law was amended by the added specification that: ‘The Gaza Strip territory is an enemy territory for the purpose of this law.’

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According to Al Mezan and Adalah, the ruling in the Attiya Fathi al-Nabahin case confirms that Gaza residents are deprived of their rights to an effective legal remedy. They have announced that they will appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court.

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The court ruling (in Hebrew) is available here.