Israeli court says boy who survived cable car disaster must be returned to Italy

"The boy is the only survivor of the cable car accident and the message of his late parents' 'spiritual will' would be for their families to set the right path on which the boy can tread peacefully and safely between them," it said.

An Israeli court ruled on Monday that a six-year-old boy, the sole survivor of an Italian cable car disaster and the focus of a cross-border custody battle, must be returned to relatives in Italy after his grandfather took him to Israel.

Eitan Biran had been living with his paternal aunt in Italy after his parents, younger brother and 11 other people died when a gondola plunged to the ground in northern Italy in May. Last month, while visiting the boy, his maternal grandfather, without the aunt's consent, drove him to Switzerland and from there chartered a private jet to Israel.

The aunt said that according to the Hague Convention on the return of abducted children, this amounted to kidnapping and petitioned a family court in Tel Aviv for the child's return. The court on Monday determined that the boy's "regular residence" was in Italy, and that he had lived there since his parents had moved from Israel when he was about a month old.

It dismissed the grandfather's argument that because his parents had intended to return from Italy, Israel should be considered his home. The Israeli ruling said an Italian court had granted the boy's aunt guardianship rights, enabling her to argue successfully that his transfer to Israel by the grandfather had violated the Hague Convention.

The Tel Aviv court said it still hoped the rift between the families could be mended. "The boy is the only survivor of the cable car accident and the message of his late parents' 'spiritual will' would be for their families to set the right path on which the boy can tread peacefully and safely between them," it said.

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