Image
© unknownAn Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip in January 2009
Israel has refused to hear a petition by Palestinians that demanded compensation for damages inflicted to them during Israel's offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, representing more than 1,000 residents of the Gaza Strip, said on Thursday that courts in Israel refused to hear their demands, Ynetnews reported.

The judges wrote that demands for compensation over damage should have been filed within two years and other damages can be filed seven years after the incident.

The Palestinian group, however, said that courts are permitted to extend the statute of limitations by three additional years in such cases.

A spokesman for the human rights center, attorney Michael Sfard, said filing a case within such a short period of time is always impossible due to Israel's refusal of entry permits.

Israel launched an all-out war on the Gaza Strip three days before the turn of 2009. The three-week war killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, including at least 300 children.

The offensive leveled 4,000 houses in the territory and devastated a large portion of infrastructure. More than 50,000 people were displaced as a result of the war.