Washington - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
A number of American citizens, including victims of attacks attributed to Hamas and Hezbollah, and relatives of those killed and injured, have filed a lawsuit against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), accusing it of "contributing to the support and empowerment of terrorist groups." This legal move represents a significant development in the controversy surrounding the humanitarian agency's role.
According to what was published by the European news network in Brussels, "Euronews," on Sunday, the lawsuit was filed on Thursday in a federal court in Washington, D.C., based on a decision issued by the US Department of Justice in April 2025, which revoked UNRWA's supposed immunity from lawsuits in US courts. According to the New York Times, this shift is a reversal from the US administration's position in September 2024, when it declared that the agency enjoyed immunity under international agreements. The department then reassessed its position and issued new guidance concluding that UN "subsidiary bodies," including UNRWA, are not exempt from prosecution. According to the complaint, UNRWA violated US anti-terrorism laws by "providing direct and indirect material and logistical support" to Hamas and Hezbollah, which the United States designates as terrorist organizations. The lawsuit also accuses UNRWA USA, a nonprofit organization charged with raising funds for the agency, of participating in these activities by collecting donations that are allegedly used to fund entities involved in terrorist activities. The lawsuit alleges that the agency, rather than being a tool for promoting peace and integration, “systematically encourages anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric” through its educational curricula and institutional activities, and facilitates the perpetuation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by maintaining an expansive definition of Palestinian refugee, which passes the status from generation to generation—a claim Israel has criticized for decades.
Among the plaintiffs is Nurit Cooper, who was abducted during a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and whose husband, Amiram, was later found to have been killed in Gaza. The lawsuit also includes the families of the victims of the Nova music festival, as well as people who witnessed the deaths of their loved ones in attacks, and others who suffered physical and psychological injuries. The plaintiffs also include the families of victims of previous attacks, including Ari Fuld, who was stabbed to death in 2018 at a West Bank shopping mall, and people harmed by Hezbollah attacks across the border in Lebanon. A parallel lawsuit is currently pending in a Manhattan federal court. It was filed last year by the families of more than 100 victims of the October 7 attack and also seeks to hold UNRWA partially responsible for what the plaintiffs described as an "enabling environment" for armed groups.
These lawsuits come amid escalating tensions over UNRWA's role, particularly after Israel revealed evidence—which it presented to the United Nations and the international community—that some agency employees participated in the deadly attack, stored weapons in UNRWA schools, and used tunnels under civilian buildings run by UNRWA. As a result, the Israeli Knesset passed a law in November 2024 banning the agency's activities on Israeli territory, with broad support from across the political spectrum.
UNRWA has repeatedly denied the allegations against it, asserting that every suspected case is being investigated, and that nine of its employees in the Gaza Strip were dismissed after being accused of involvement in the attack. She noted that humanitarian work in areas under the control of armed groups such as Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, requires interaction that does not necessarily imply political or security cooperation.
UNRWA states that it provides vital humanitarian services to approximately 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and is the only agency in the United Nations system dedicated to a single refugee group. The agency's supporters defend it as "essential humanitarian work" in a region suffering from instability and in need of radical political solutions.
However, the plaintiffs in the US lawsuit argue that continued financial and political support for the agency without accountability amounts to "condoning the expanding influence of extremist groups." They seek unspecified financial damages, including punitive and exemplary damages, with the aim of "imposing legal liability on entities used as a cover to enable terrorism." Meanwhile, in the same vein, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed "deep shock" at the videos recently released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which showed two Israeli hostages held in Gaza in deteriorating health. According to the European news network Euronews, a statement issued by Netanyahu's office stated that the prime minister spoke with the families of the two hostages, Rom Braslavsky and Eviatar David, and assured them that "efforts are ongoing to return all the hostages, and will continue tirelessly." The scenes, which were published on Thursday, sparked widespread outrage in Israel, with the two men appearing extremely thin and weak, reinforcing public demand for an immediate agreement to release the hostages. Tens of thousands participated in a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening in support of their families. According to the statement, Netanyahu stressed that "there is no limit to Hamas's cruelty," adding: "While Israel allows humanitarian aid to reach the residents of Gaza, Hamas deliberately starves the hostages and films them in a despicable and abhorrent manner." He also accused the movement of preventing Gaza residents from receiving aid, with the aim of promoting what he described as a "fabricated propaganda campaign against Israel." Concluding his statement, he called on "the nations of the world to unite" to condemn what he called "the criminal, Nazi-like violations committed by Hamas."