JERUSALEM: An Israeli court on Thursday upheld a ruling to return to Italy a six-year-old boy, the sole survivor of an Italian cable car disaster who was kidnapped to Israel by his grandfather, Israel’s Justice Ministry said.
Eitan Biran’s maternal grandfather had appealed against a Tel Aviv family court’s decision last month to send the boy back to his paternal aunt in Italy, in a cross-border custody battle.
The child had been living with the aunt since his parents, younger brother and 11 other people died when a gondola plunged to the ground in northern Italy in May.
In September, while visiting Eitan, his maternal grandfather, without the aunt’s consent, drove him to Switzerland and chartered a private jet onward to Israel.
The aunt petitioned the family court for his return to Italy. The court found that the grandfather’s actions amounted to kidnapping under the Hague Convention on the return of abducted children.
The grandfather appealed against the ruling to a Tel Aviv district court, which the Justice Ministry said upheld the family court’s decision.
“We order the minor be returned to Italy within 15 days,” the district court said in a ruling released by the ministry. The court stayed implementation of the order for a week to enable the grandfather to appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.
“Although the appellant took the minor away illegally, his misdeeds should not come at his grandson’s expense, and the minor should be allowed to meet with his grandfather, even in Italy,” the court said.
Lawyers for the grandfather said they will consider an appeal to the Supreme Court, after studying the ruling.
Israeli appeals court upholds ruling to return kidnapped boy to Italy
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Israeli appeals court upholds ruling to return kidnapped boy to Italy
- In September, Eitan’s maternal grandfather, without the aunt's consent, drove him to Switzerland and chartered a private jet onward to Israel
- The aunt petitioned the family court for his return to Italy
Syria accuses Hezbollah of firing shells into its territory
- “The Syrian Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to SANA
DAMASCUS: Syria said Iran-backed Hezbollah had fired artillery shells into its territory from Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Shia movement.
Syrian army officials said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west of Damascus, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling the news agency it observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.
“The Syrian Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to SANA.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed in eastern Lebanon in recent days, and Israel has carried out strikes across Lebanon, including on the capital Beirut.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state, while the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc said it had “no other option... than the option of resistance.”
Hezbollah provided military support to former Syrian president Bashar Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by an Islamist coalition hostile to the pro-Iranian Shia movement.
Since then, its supply routes from Syria have been cut off, and Lebanese and Syrian authorities are trying to combat smuggling across the porous border between the two countries.
