Days before the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, 835 plaintiffs, including bereaved relatives, terror victims and soldiers wounded in combat, filed a NIS 5.151 billion civil lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and former Palestinian prisoners’ affairs chief Qadura Fares, who formerly headed the PA’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, which handles Palestinian prisoners’ affairs.
The Jerusalem District Court received the lawsuit on Sunday and assigned it to Judge Eran Shilo. Shilo is already overseeing a coordinated process concerning other October 7-related lawsuits brought by more than 8,000 plaintiffs, focusing first on the shared question of the PA’s potential civil liability.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants helped finance Hamas, knew about the planned massacre, and participated in preparations for it. It also alleges that money and other support provided by the defendants helped finance and train terrorists who participated in the attack.
These are allegations made by the plaintiffs and have not been tested or established in court; the defendants have 60 days from the date they are served to submit a defense.
The complaint was filed by Prof. Gideon Fisher’s law firm.
Plaintiffs allege PA, PLO funds enabled Hamas's terror plot
It alleges that preparations for the attack began in 2018, when Hamas, PLO factions, and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip established a joint operations room that coordinated military exercises and training.
According to the plaintiffs, PA and PLO funding for civilian ministries and governing bodies in Gaza enabled Hamas to direct other resources toward its military operations. The lawsuit further alleges that organizations affiliated with the PLO participated in the joint operations room and in exercises that preceded October 7.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation under the 2024 Terror Victims Compensation Law, alongside damages for the deaths, injuries, and psychological harm they allege the defendants caused.
The 2024 law allows the heirs of a person killed in a terrorist attack to seek NIS 10 million in exemplary damages, and a victim left with a permanent disability to seek NIS 5 million, from those who carried out the attack or paid rewards for it. These damages may be awarded in addition to other compensation.
The lawsuit includes relatives and estates of four people who were killed, and 824 people who the complaint says suffered physical or psychological harm in the massacre or the war that followed. It says 193 of the injured plaintiffs were left with permanent physical or psychological disabilities.
The remainder comprises claimed financial losses and compensation for emotional suffering.
The complaint lists two related cases already pending in the Jerusalem District Court. One is an NIS 4.491 billion lawsuit filed by Fisher’s office in March 2025 on behalf of more than 500 plaintiffs against the same three defendants.
Plaintiffs include bereaved families
Among the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit is Omer Ohana, whose fiancé, Maj. Sagi Golan, was killed in the battle of Be’eri in the early hours of October 8, 2023.
“Three years have passed, but it feels as though it happened yesterday,” Ohana told The Jerusalem Post. “People always say that time will take its course and heal, but in practice, time only makes it harder. The pain has turned into suffering.”
Golan, 30, was an officer at the IDF’s counterterrorism school. He held a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, economics, and political science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a master’s degree in public policy.
He also volunteered for nearly six years with Paamonim, a nonprofit that provides financial guidance to individuals and families, and helped families facing food insecurity manage their household finances.
“He was the perfect partner,” Ohana said. “He was handsome and smart and funny and silly. He was colorblind and did not know how to dress at all.”
The couple had been together for six years and were planning a weekend celebration in the desert on October 20. They called it a “celebration of love” rather than a wedding because Israel does not perform same-sex marriages, Ohana said.
On October 7, Golan put on his uniform, assembled his team and left their home in Herzliya to fight. Ohana said Golan helped rescue families trapped in safe rooms in Be’eri’s Kerem neighborhood before he was shot while responding to a commander’s call for assistance.
The family learned of his death several days later.
Ohana said he decided to join the lawsuit after discussing it with other bereaved families.
“At the end of the day, this is a lawsuit with many, many families seeking to hold the PLO and other actors responsible for October 7,” he said. “Hamas did not act alone, and they need to bear responsibility.”
He said monetary compensation could never provide what bereaved families truly wanted.
“They cannot bring these people back to life, and that is the only thing a bereaved family really wants,” Ohana said. “But they should be compensated. Those responsible should pay everything the law requires them to pay.”
Lawsuit follows previous suit filed in US
The lawsuit follows other cases filed by Fisher’s office in the United States, including separate $500 million lawsuits against Iran and Syria, as well as litigation alleging that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and the cryptocurrency exchange provided services that enabled Hamas financing.
Fisher said his office was also examining which of the new plaintiffs hold US citizenship and whether they could pursue claims against the PA and PLO in a US federal court.
Fisher cited the US Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Fuld v. PLO, which upheld a federal law allowing US courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over the PA and PLO in specified terrorism cases. The ruling concerned jurisdiction; it did not establish the PA and PLO’s liability in any particular case.
“The new lawsuit joins an international legal campaign that our firm has conducted since October 7, in Israel and the United States,” Fisher said.
“Our aim is to create a cross-border legal campaign that will hold those involved in supporting terrorism accountable and obtain the maximum compensation possible for the victims.”