Relatives of a Palestinian family burned alive filed a lawsuit against Israel on Monday demanding it be held responsible and pay damages over the 2015 attack blamed on Jewish extremists in the occupied West Bank.
Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsha died along with his parents when their house was firebombed in July 2015.
His brother Ahmed, now six, was the sole survivor from the immediate family but was left with severe burns.
“Today we filed a complaint with the Nazareth district court demanding the state of Israel be held responsible for the burning of the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma in the West Bank,” lawyer Hassan al-Khatib, who represents the family, told AFP by phone.
Ahmed’s uncle Nasser Dawabsha said they were seeking an admission of responsibility from the state and 16 million shekels (four million euros, $4.4 million) in damages.
Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Khatib said the state must accept responsibility for the killings.
“The child Ahmed suffers from disability,” he added, as well as “medical and psychological incapacity from the loss of his father, mother and brother”.
Amiram Ben-Uliel, 21, from the northern West Bank settlement of Shilo, was charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a hate crime.
A 17-year-old, whose name remains under a gag order, was charged with being an accessory to committing a racially motivated murder.
An Israeli defence official said the family would not be eligible for compensation that applies to terror victims since it is only open for Israeli citizens.
The official said the family would be able to apply instead to an alternative committee that compensates people for so-called nationalist attacks.
Nasser Dawabsha confirmed to AFP they had rejected a previous compensation offer because they were demanding the state accept responsibility, which he said had been refused.
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