Pay-for-slay: Could the Palestinian Authority be held legally liable for October 7?

Thousands of October 7 victims are suing the Palestinian Authority in the Jerusalem District Court, arguing its prisoner payment and employment policies supported terrorists. Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch's study examines the PA/PLO system, but he admits no direct payment links to Hamas leaders. The court is separating the common question of PA responsibility from individual damages, with the PA to respond by October 18.

Thousands of October 7 victims and their families are pursuing civil litigation against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Jerusalem District Court, arguing that its long-standing prisoner payment and employment policies created a link to the Hamas massacre. The case involves more than 8,000 plaintiffs seeking compensation for deaths, injuries, and other harm. Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, a former director of the IDF Military Prosecution in the West Bank, published a study examining the PA/PLO prisoner-payment system. He told The Jerusalem Post that he does not expect to find individual payment links between the PA and Hamas leaders, but argues that the broader framework of payments, grants, and employment rights for released prisoners reduced the economic consequences of terrorism. The court, under Judge Eran Shilo, has set a common procedure to first decide the PA's potential responsibility before addressing individual damages. The PA is due to file a response by October 18. A 2024 Israeli law allows victims of terrorism to seek exemplary damages, providing NIS 10 million per person killed and NIS 5 million for permanent disability. Hirsch's study highlights prisoners freed in the 2011 Schalit exchange, including Yahya Sinwar, and argues that the employment component left them free to return to terrorist activity.