UNRWA not immune from lawsuits in US, Department of Justice says, arguing Oct. 7 victims’ suit can go ahead

"In a reversal of a previous stance, the US Department of Justice has said that the contentious UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, UNRWA, is not entitled to immunity from lawsuits in the United States, according to a court document circulated online late Thursday by lawyers, and subsequently by pro-Israel activists.

The Department of Justice’s opinion was submitted as part of an ongoing lawsuit in which the families of more than 100 victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror assault are claiming $1 billion in damages from UNRWA, asserting that the UN agency aided and abetted the terror group’s attack.

The lawsuit was filed last June in the Southern District of New York. It alleges that UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, let Hamas use its facilities for weapons storage, allowed tunnels and command centers to be built under its sites, and funneled cash into the terror group’s coffers by insisting on paying employees in US dollars.

In September, the Department of Justice, then under the administration of former president Joe Biden, asserted that the UN had not waived its immunity in US courts, and as such UNRWA was exempt from prosecution and the lawsuit could not proceed.

Now, in the latest court filing, the department acknowledged that ‘previously, the Government expressed the view that certain immunities shielded UNRWA from having to answer’ to allegations regarding its role in the ‘heinous offenses’ of October 7, but says it has ‘since reevaluated that position, and now concludes UNRWA is not immune from this litigation.’

Presenting its position, the department stated that while the UN in and of itself enjoys immunity in US courts, its ‘subsidiary organs,’ such as UNRWA, do not..."