Unrwa can be sued in the us, justice department says, allowing victims of the october 7 attack to sue

Children gather outside the gate of the Kalandia Training Centre, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which was raided by Israeli forces earlier in the day on February 18, 2025. (Zain Jaafar / AFP)

#UNRWA 

The US Justice Department has changed its position and said that UNRWA, the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees, can be sued in US courts

The decision, announced in a document filed in a New York court on Thursday, marks a change from the stance of the previous administration, led by Joe Biden.

The new position is linked to a lawsuit filed by families of more than 100 victims of the Hamas-led terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. The families are seeking $1 billion in damages, alleging that UNRWA helped Hamas by allowing the group to use its facilities to store weapons, build tunnels and command centers under its buildings, and funnel money to the group by paying employees in dollars.

DOJ tells SDNY that Biden administration was wrong to argue that UNRWA was immune to Alien Tort Claims Act suit in the USA over UNRWA role in October 7 massacre. (Simon Tov v UNRWA, No. 1:24-cv-04765.)

Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department said that UNRWA, as a part of the UN, had immunity and could not be sued in the US.

Now, the department has changed its mind and stated that UNRWA does not have this protection.

The document explains that while the UN has immunity in American courts, its “secondary entities”, such as UNRWA, do not have the same right.

In addition, the US government argues that UNRWA is not even considered an official part of the UN, but merely an affiliated organization, like other specialized agencies.

This change opens the door for UNRWA to face the lawsuit in the US.

The agency, called the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, was created in 1949, after the 1948 war that led to the emergence of the State of Israel.

It provides aid, health and education to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the Judea-Samaria and neighboring countries, such as Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Palestinian children who fled with their parents from their houses in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh, gather in the backyard of an UNRWA school, in Sidon, Lebanon, September 12, 2023. (AP/Mohammed Zaatari)

About 5.9 million people are registered as Palestinian refugees by UNRWA.

This number includes descendants of Arabs displaced in the 1948 war.

Israel criticizes the agency for considering as refugees even the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original displaced, something that does not happen with other refugees around the world, who are assisted by another UN agency.

This rule causes the number of Palestinian refugees to grow over time, even though many have citizenship in other countries.

A UNRWA vest discovered among a weapons cache by IDF troops in Nur Shams refugee camp in the Judea-Samaria, March 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel also accuses UNRWA of worsening the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The country says that the agency’s schools encourage hatred against Israel and that some staff have participated in terrorist activities, including the October 7 attack.

In addition, Israel has presented evidence that UNRWA facilities have been used for terrorist activities.

The Israeli parliament recently passed a law, with widespread support, that bans UNRWA from operating in the country.

Despite this, the agency continues to operate almost normally in Jerusalem, according to The Times of Israel.

Published in 04/25/2025 21h14

Portuguese version

Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.

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