NEW YORK: A United States judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by dozens of Israelis accusing the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees of funnelling more than one billion dollars to aid Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
US District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan ruled that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has absolute immunity from the lawsuit because it is a subsidiary of the United Nations.
Judge Torres also rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that UNRWA was merely a specialized agency not entitled to such immunity.
She cited United Nations lawyers who stated that subsidiaries like UNRWA, despite having considerable autonomy, are not completely independent because their parent entities can alter their structures or close them.
Gavriel Mairone, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, confirmed his clients plan to appeal the dismissal.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini and several current and former agency officials were also named as defendants in the case.
The lawsuit followed Hamas’s attack on Israel which killed approximately 1,200 people.
Plaintiffs included more than 100 individuals who survived the attack or had relatives who were killed.
They accused UNRWA of spending over a decade helping Hamas build terror infrastructure, including by funnelling the one billion dollars from a Manhattan bank account.
Several countries, including the United States, suspended funding to UNRWA after Israel alleged that some agency staff members were involved in the October 7 attack.
The Biden administration had previously argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because UNRWA deserved immunity.
The Trump administration reversed that position on April 24, stating the defendants must answer these allegations in American courts.
Both administrations acknowledged that Hamas committed atrocious crimes.
Established in 1949, UNRWA provides schooling, healthcare and humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
The agency is funded almost entirely by United Nations member states.
The case is Estate of Kedem et al v United Nations Relief and Works Agency et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-04765. – Reuters