Court Orders Hamas to Pay 38 Million Shekels to Families of 3 Murdered Teens

A court in Jerusalem has ordered Hamas to pay compensation to the families of three teens who were kidnapped and murdered by members of the Palestinian terror group in 2014. But Shurat HaDin, the civil rights organization that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah, says that the 38-million-shekels award is not enough and will not serve as a deterrent; the organization had asked for more than half a billion shekels. It has pledged to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Fraenkel, 16, Shaar, 16, and Yifrach, 19, were kidnapped by Hamas operatives on the night of June 12, 2014, from the Gush Etzion junction south of Jerusalem and murdered hours later. Their bodies were found near Hebron in the West Bank nearly three weeks later.