Gaza family sues Olmert for $200m after 29 relatives killed

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A Palestinian family who lost 29 members in Israel's offensive in Gaza filed a law suit Tuesday against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli leaders, demanding some $200 million in compensation.

The Samouni family, from the southern Gaza City suburb of Zaytoun, filed the suit at the Nazareth District Court against outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

In the morning of January 4, an IDF tank shell hit the family's three-story building, killing seven of its members.

Their apartment was burnt down completely and the survivors took refuge in a shelter, but the building was shelled the following day, and 22 more family members were killed. Both shellings injured 45 other family members, most of them children aged eight to 14, according to a statement by the prosecution.

The lawsuit accuses IDF of "criminal negligence" by killing innocent civilians who were seeking refugee in their home and a shelter.

"The plaintiffs' negligence, lack of caution, and violation of duty have manifested in an act of unjustifiable killing," the statement said.

"The soldiers who fired the shells did so in utter disregard of the innocent civilians present in the area of the fighting," it charged."

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[babylonsister]

1. This is just too sad. That'd be the end of my family; no one would

be left to file suit. :(

[oberliner]

2. Gaza family that lost 29 relatives drops lawsuit against Israel

GAZA - A Gaza family that lost 29 relatives to Operation Cast Lead, which also left 45 family members injured and their home destroyed, on Tuesday asked that a lawsuit that had been filed in their name for NIS 851 million be withdrawn. The lawsuit names Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi as respondents.

The suit was filed in the Nazareth District Court by attorney Mohammed Fukra on behalf of the Samouni family.

However, family members told Haaretz on Tuesday that they had not signed power of attorney over to Fukra, and that they are being represented by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1070054.html