Eight families of Israeli Arab victims killed in the October 2000 riots said on Monday that they rejected a settlement signed with the state which would compensate them for the loss of their sons.

The settlement, which was approved by the Nazareth District Court on Thursday, orders a one-time payout by the state to 11 families of victims on the condition that the state not be required to take any responsibility for the riots and/or the loss of life caused in their wake. The sum averages of the compensation would amount to approximately NIS 800,000 per family.

Thirteen men were killed in the riots, 12 of them Israeli citizens.

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In a statement released Monday, eight families said they rejected any settlement or agreement with the state, insisting that "the Israeli establishment is primarily responsible for the murder of our sons, and therefore we will act to bring to justice those who killed our sons, be it within local or international jurisdiction."

The families are the Ghara family of Gat, Si'am of Mu'awiya, Hmaisa of Kafr Qana, Ghnaiyem of Sakhnin, Eik of Umm al-Fahm, Nasar of Arabe, Yazbek of Nazareth and the Bushnaq family of Kafr Manda.

The eight families further declared that the lawyer who represented them at the signing of the settlement and in court, Adi Michlin, is not empowered to act on their behalf.

According to the families, the report on the approval of the settlement was an attempt to mislead the public and defiles the honor of the fallen.

Haaretz has learned that the eight families plan on meeting with legal experts from the Adala Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel to discuss the agreement and its implications.