Families of slain Druze children seek $25.7M from Hezbollah over deadly 2024 attack

Families of victims in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli Golan Heights have sued the Iranian-backed terrorist militia Hezbollah for $US25.7 million over a July 2024 attack that killed 12 children on a soccer field.

The lawsuit was filed with the Jerusalem District Court by attorneys Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Avraham Moshe Segal, Moraf Abu Saleh and Avi Guez on behalf of eight Druze families whose children were murdered in the attack.

Laith Abu Saleh, the father of Fajr, a teenager killed in the attack, said the lawsuit seeks financial compensation for what he described as an unforgivable terrorist attack on civilian children.

“About a year and a half ago, my life was destroyed beyond recognition,” Saleh explained. “This lawsuit seeks to do a measure of justice and to draw a clear line: firing rockets at civilians is a shocking crime, and those responsible must be held accountable."

Looking ahead, Saleh expressed hope that the lawsuit would deter future Hezbollah attacks on civilians in northern Israel. 

A second lawsuit is simultaneously demanding $53 million in compensation for 30 victims who were injured in the rocket attack. 

Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner placed the lawsuit against Hezbollah in the wider context of terrorism sponsored and led by the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

“With Iranian funding and deliberate intent, Hezbollah took the lives of 12 innocent boys and girls,” she said. “The fight will continue in the legal arena until justice is achieved for the victims of terrorism."

The Israeli public was deeply affected by the killing of 12 innocent children in Majdal Shams. Israelis quickly raised over half a million dollars on behalf of the Druze community in the town. 

Hezbollah launched an unprovoked attack on northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023 – a day after Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 251 people during an invasion of southern border communities. Tens of thousands of residents were temporarily displaced due to persistent rocket and drone fire from Lebanon. Dozens of civilians were killed in strikes on largely civilian communities in the north.

Israel initially focused on its war against Hamas in Gaza. In the second half of 2024, however, the Israeli military – along with Mossad – shifted to the offensive against Hezbollah and effectively eliminated much of the group’s leadership. In October of that year, Israel killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, along with multiple senior commanders in a surprise strike on the group’s subterranean headquarters in southern Beirut.

“The Israel Defense Forces carried out a precise strike on the Central Headquarters of the Hezbollah terror organization - that served as the epicenter of Hezbollah's terror,” the Israeli military announced at the time. “Hezbollah's central headquarters was intentionally built under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahieh, in Beirut, as part of Hezbollah's strategy of using Lebanese people as human shields."

Hamas has used the same strategy of using civilians as human shields in Gaza, which constitutes a war crime under international law.

Israel also eliminated thousands of Hezbollah fighters across Lebanon and severely degraded the terrorist militia’s military capabilities. By the end of 2024, Hezbollah reluctantly accepted an American-brokered ceasefire with Israel.