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Aya Biran-Nirko, aunt of the six-year-old, at a court hearing in Tel Aviv
Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP
In the alleged kidnapping of little Eitan, the only survivor of the cable car disaster on Lake Maggiore, a family court in Tel Aviv ordered the boy's return to Italy.
The grandfather, who lives in Israel, also has to pay around 19,000 euros in court costs, according to the decision.
The boy, who had lost both parents, his little brother and two great-grandparents in the accident on Whitsunday, was flown to Israel in mid-September by his maternal grandfather, in violation of a court order.
In the proceedings, the aunt on his father's side - Aya Biran-Nirko - demanded that the six-year-old be returned to Italy with her.
Custody remains unclear
The court's ruling is not a decision on who will have long-term custody of the boy.
The proceedings only concerned his current whereabouts.
Eitan was born in Israel, according to media reports, but moved to Italy with his parents shortly after the birth.
He therefore has both an Israeli and an Italian passport.
The aunt had said that Pavia in Lombardy was the boy's home and that he should have started school in Italy in September.
However, his mother's family living in Israel had reportedly argued that the parents were planning to move back to Israel.
They looked at schools for the boy and tried to buy an apartment that was subsidized by the government.
The boy should grow up in Israel.
The public prosecutor's office in Pavia, Italy, had started investigations against the grandfather for child abduction in September.
Eitan's grandmother and, according to the reports, another man are also suspected.
According to the daily Corriere della Sera, the man had driven the grandfather and the boy in a rental car from Pavia to Switzerland, from where they had flown to Tel Aviv.
kim / dpa / AP