Tzivin said the EU must reply to the eight-page suit by 14 Britons and
an Italian national, submitted in August 2009. He said that unless the
European Commission accedes to the demands of the plaintiffs the suit would
be filed in the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg.
In 2008, the EU relayed 55.6 million euro in aid to the Gaza Strip. EU
states have pledged separately more than 41 million euro in additional funds
to Gaza.
The European plaintiffs live near the Gaza Strip and their communities
have come under Hamas and Palestinian militia missile and rocket strikes
over the last five years. The suit was initiated by Tzivin with the European
Citizens Council in Israel, which represents EU nationals in Israel.
The council has determined that the suit was likely to be heard by the
EU. The EU has designated Hamas a terrorist entity.
"For me, the main issue in this lawsuit was the demand to prevent and
stop EU funds from reaching Hamas," Eliahu Shannon, an author who immigrated
to Israel from Britain in the late 1960s, said.
