The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been sued in the New York Federal Court by Israelis who accused the Agency of aiding and abetting the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
The complaint was filed in the US District Court for Manhattan including an allegation that the Agency spent more than a decade helping Hamas build its terror infrastructure and personnel needed to carry out the October 7 attack.
Some of the plaintiffs include former hostages, survivors and families of those killed by Hamas.
The lawsuit also claims that by paying their staff in American dollars, UNRWA put hundreds of millions of currency into circulation in Gaza, siphoned off by Hamas to pay for tunneling and weapons that aided them in the October attack.
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and as non-Americans are reportedly able to sue under Alien Tort Statutes and alleged violations of international law.
The UN and its personnel enjoy broad immunity from prosecution under an International Convention, a position reiterated by an UNRWA spokesperson.
The lawsuit names current UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini who has urged resistance against Israeli efforts to disband the Agency.
Source: eNCA
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