Families of Israelis murdered on October 7 petitioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to halt a building permit for Palestinian businessman Bashar al-Masri, who is suspected of financing Hamas and faces an ongoing trial in the US. "This coming Monday, the District Planning and Building Committee in Jerusalem is set to approve a land grant in a strategic location opposite the Old City for the purpose of hotel construction." Al-Masri is behind the financing and establishment of the Palestinian city of Rawabi in the Benjamin region of Judea and Samaria.
Among those petitioning are Rubi Chen, the father of Staff Sgt. Itai Chen; Eyal Waldman, father of Daniel Waldman; and former minister Yizhar Shai, father of Staff Sgt. Yaron Uri Shai. All were killed in Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
"We call on the acting interior minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, to immediately stop this moral outrage and remove the proposal from the committee's agenda," the letter stated.
The massive US lawsuit involves 200 families of October 7 victims suing al-Masri, the Palestinian-American billionaire, for allegedly financing Hamas and allowing the terror organization to use facilities he owns in the Gaza Strip, including a beachfront hotel and an industrial area near the border with Israel.
"In the lawsuit, we presented extensive evidence of the existence of Hamas strategic tunnels beneath al-Masri's properties in Gaza. Additionally, there were communications equipment, a headquarters of Hamas' naval commando force, and other strategic assets. Needless to say, all of these were used by Hamas to massacre our children and kill our soldiers," the lawsuit stated.
The families argued before the US court that it is impossible that the owners of these properties "were not aware of what was happening in the ground beneath them, especially given the fact that they provided them with electricity and water."
In the US, the filing of that lawsuit caused Harvard University to immediately remove him from his position on the university's board of directors, "but apparently in Israel this is not enough," the letter to the prime minister and Jerusalem mayor stated.
The bereaved families added, "While Israel marks yellow lines that Hamas terrorists must not cross in Gaza, Israel allows Bashar al-Masri to walk freely in the streets of Tel Aviv, dine in restaurants and hotels – and now the absurdity reaches its peak when he is about to receive land from the state for building hotels and luxury buildings in a strategic location opposite the Old City in Jerusalem."
"Murder today – profit tomorrow"
The families emphasized in their letter, "The message for us, the bereaved families, is – 'murder Jews today, profit from it tomorrow.' The blood of our children is not only abandoned, it has become a profitable real estate plan. The fallen and murdered cannot be returned, but this incomprehensible absurdity must be stopped. Bashar al-Masri must not be given a single centimeter, at least until his trial is completed. Not a permit to build a hotel and not to stay in Tel Aviv hotels."
