Palestinian father demands justice for daughters killed by Israeli forces

Abu el Eish has sued Israeli authorities over the death of his three girls – Bisan, 21, Mayar, 15 and Aya, 13 – by an Israeli tank shell that struck his house near Gaza over a decade ago.

Abu el-Eish says he is resolved to seek justice for his daughters through all available “civilized, peaceful, legal and moral means”.
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Abu el-Eish says he is resolved to seek justice for his daughters through all available “civilized, peaceful, legal and moral means”.

Abu el Eish has demanded justice for his three daughters killed 13 years ago by an Israeli tank shell that struck his house in Jabalia camp, north of Gaza City.

Abu el Eish, who had since relocated to Canada, traveled to Israel to attend the court proceedings at the Supreme Court on Monday. 

The court is yet to issue the verdict in the civil lawsuit.

"This is the room after the tragedy,” Abu el Eish, who was holding a picture of his demolished house, told reporters while pointing to the room where his daughters perished.

“Personally, I don't want anyone to go through what I went through," he said.

“During the Israeli assault, my daughters were studying (at night) using candles because there was no electricity,” Abu el Eish recalled.

“They had a goal. Their goal was to succeed, to learn, and to become the bearers of a humanitarian message. These are the children I taught and raised."

The bereaved father said his daughters are victims, vowing to “keep them alive” and not allow anyone else to “kill them again” by ensuring that they get justice.

Abu el Eish said he is resolved to seek justice for his daughters through all available “civilised, peaceful, legal and moral means”.

"Unfortunately, and painfully, the response has always been denial, evasion, and false excuses,” he said. 

“This has compounded the pain and suffering that my family and I have endured and kills my daughters over and over again."

But the determined father still remains hopeful that Israeli judges will do “what is moral, what is right, and what is legal as well.”

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Official apology

Abu el Eish, who is a medical doctor, demands Israel make an official apology and that it bears full responsibility for the murders.

He also demands that the self-proclaimed Jewish state gives him financial compensations that he intends to use to fund a college in honour of his daughters.

The grieving father had sued the Israeli authorities over the death of his three girls – Bisan, Mayar, and Aya – who were aged 21, 15, and 13 years old respectively.

Other family members living in the same house were also wounded by Israeli army fire during a three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip that began on December 27, 2008.

The Israeli onslaught, known as Operation Cast Lead, resulted in the massacre of about 1,400 Palestinians and thousands injured.

In March 2017, the Israeli Central Court in the southern city of Beersheba reviewed the case but rejected it.

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