U.S. Court Rejects Lawsuit Against UNRWA, Affirms It Has Immunity

SadaNews Translation - A Manhattan U.S. court last night (between Thursday and Friday) rejected a lawsuit filed by about 100 Israelis against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The lawsuit accuses the international organization of playing a role in the October 7, 2023 attack.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, as translated by SadaNews, the lawsuit was filed by representatives and relatives of Israeli victims killed in that attack, survivors, and an individual who was imprisoned in Gaza.

The plaintiffs claimed that the agency allowed Hamas to divert funds originally allocated for humanitarian purposes to build "terrorist" infrastructure, including tunnel-digging equipment and even weapons, thereby assisting the group in launching the attack.

The lawsuit stated: "UNRWA intentionally provided funds that aided in smuggling weapons and explosives."

The lawsuit also alleges that UNRWA paid salaries to its employees in cash and required them to exchange dollars with Hamas-affiliated money changers, which they claim put millions of dollars into Hamas's pockets.

The court rejected the lawsuit, and in her ruling, Federal Judge Analisa Torres clarified that the international organization is protected by its affiliation with the United Nations, and thus is immune from lawsuits.

Former U.S. President Joe Biden stated last year that UNRWA enjoys immunity and cannot therefore be sued.

Under Donald Trump’s administration, the stance changed, and arguments were presented to the court stating that UNRWA or its Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini does not enjoy immunity.

The U.S. Department of Justice wrote: "The agency must respond to these allegations in U.S. courts. The Biden administration was wrong."

This is not the first time that survivors of the attack or families of the deceased have filed lawsuits against entities they claim are connected to the attack, as in March of last year, more than 500 relatives of the victims filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority seeking compensation of 4.5 billion shekels, claiming "direct and indirect responsibility for the attack and all the field preparations that preceded the war."

In August, a lawsuit was filed against Meta seeking 4 billion shekels in damages, alleging its failure to prevent the broadcast of live video of the attack and allowing it to circulate to this day.