[JURIST] Israel's Supreme Court [official website, in Hebrew] Tuesday unanimously overturned a law barring Palestinians from claiming compensation from the Israeli state in respect of damages suffered in "conflict zones" in Gaza and the West Bank. The so-called Intifada law [text, PDF] had been challenged [petition, PDF] by a coalition of nine human rights groups led by the Israeli-Arab rights organization Adalah [advocacy website]. The court nonetheless tempered its ruling [PDF] by saying that compensation still could not be claimed by those injured in "combat operations" against "an activist or member of a terrorist organization."

Adalah General Director Hassan Jabareen welcomed the ruling [press release] but noted its fundamental limitation, saying:

The Supreme Court’s decision nullified one of the most racist laws legislated by the Knesset in the last five years. After this decision, Palestinians who have been injured or killed, or who have sustained property damage, outside the context of a so-called combat situation, can again submit tort cases for compensation in Israeli courts against the security forces. However, we foresee in the future another legal battle on the question of what is the scope of combat operations.