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U.S. Reverses Policy, Says UNRWA Can Be Sued in New York

(New York Times) Benjamin Weiser - Reversing a Biden administration position, the U.S. Justice Department argued that a lawsuit could proceed in Manhattan that accuses UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, of providing more than $1 billion that helped to enable Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The lawsuit says that UNRWA allowed Hamas to siphon off the organization's funds to help build a terrorist infrastructure that included tunneling equipment and weapons that supported the attack. The Biden administration argued last year that UNRWA could not be sued because it was part of the UN, which enjoys immunity from such lawsuits. But the Justice Department told a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday that neither UNRWA nor the agency officials named in the lawsuit were entitled to immunity. The suit was brought on behalf of about 100 Israeli plaintiffs, including survivors of the attack, the estates of some who were killed, and at least one person who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The suit says that UNRWA and current and former agency officials aided and abetted Hamas in building up its terror infrastructure and the personnel necessary to carry out the Oct. 7 attack.
2025-04-27 00:00:00
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