Featured image: Lukáš Kačaliak on Unsplash
A group of 42 survivors from Hamas’ October 7 attack on the Supernova music festival in Re’im have reportedly filed a civil lawsuit against Israel’s security forces for alleged negligence.
In what is the first civil suit of its kind, they claim that the tragedy that saw 364 people killed in southern Israel could have been “very easily prevented”.
The plaintiffs have filed the claim for NIS200 million (£43m/$54m/€50m) at the Tel Aviv District Court against the Shin Bet security service, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israel Police, and the Defense Ministry.
They state that there were multiple instances in which they failed in their duties to protect festival-goers from the Palestinian militant group.
“A single phone call by IDF officials to the commander responsible for the party to disperse it immediately in view of the expected danger would have saved lives and prevented the physical and mental injuries of hundreds of partygoers, including the plaintiffs,” read the lawsuit, as reported by The Times of Israel.
“The negligence and the gross oversight is beyond belief.”
The claims included in the lawsuit feature loss of earnings, pain and suffering, loss of future earnings, and medical expenses.
Plaintiffs noted that people were raped and burned alive while survivors hid underneath corpses in the massacre, which lasted from 6:30am until around 12pm.
They also claimed that officers in the IDF’s Gaza Division expressed concerns over the festival, and that the operations commander opposed it being held.
A consultation was also held the night before amid fears that an attack could take place but the event went on regardless.
“On the night between October 6 and October 7, at least two IDF assessments were held due to unusual incidents on the Gaza Strip border, one near midnight and another assessment close to 3 a.m., several hours before the Hamas attack,” the lawsuit read.
An Israeli military helicopter was alleged to have hit some of the festival-goers while attempted to target the attackers which has also come under scrutiny in the legal proceeding.
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