Trump DOJ strips UN terror agency of immunity
The Department of Justice has stripped the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) of its immunity from prosecution over its involvement in terrorism.
UNRWA knowingly employed Islamic terrorists
In December, the New York Times reported that at least 24 senior UNRWA staff were recently discovered to be members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) while acting as educators in UNRWA schools in Gaza. Approximately 10% of UNRWA’s 13,000 Gazan employees are known to have ties to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Nearly half of all UNRWA personnel have relatives in the terror groups. Former UNRWA union chief Suhail al-Hindi occupies a senior leadership role in Hamas. In August, the UN acknowledged the participation of at least nine UNRWA personnel in the October 7th massacre in Israel. They were eventually dismissed. In 2004, then-UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen said: “Oh, I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll, and I don’t see that as a crime.”
In June, 101 victims of the October 7th attack filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against UNRWA. According to the complaint, UNRWA gave Hamas access to its sites for weapons storage and command centers and helped funnel US dollars to Hamas via its employees. UNRWA responded by claiming diplomatic immunity to prosecution, a claim that the Biden administration supported.
UNRWA is not entitled to diplomatic immunity
In a stark reversal, however, the Trump administration is denying the UN agency’s immunity claim. The US Attorney in the Southern District of New York sent a 10-page letter to District Judge Analisa Torres, explaining why UNRWA is not entitled to immunity in Estate of Tamar Kedem Siman Tov et al. v. UNRWA.
“The atrocities committed by Hamas in the October 7 Attack were not only acts of terror, genocide, and crimes against humanity, they were torts in violation of the law of nations,” the letter said. “Because, as detailed below, the Defendants’ actions aiding and abetting those torts in violation of the law of nations, including but not limited to their funding of Hamas, occurred in significant part in the State of New York and in this federal judicial district, this Court has subject matter jurisdiction and venue over Plaintiffs’ claims against these Defendants. Many of the Plaintiffs separately have claims against Defendants for aiding and abetting Hamas’ violations of the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (“TVPA”), which requires no such New York nexus.”
The letter made several points as to why UNRWA is not entitled to diplomatic immunity, chief among them being that the president is empowered by Congress to grant immunity at his discretion, and the president has not done so for UNRWA. While the UN General Convention, which was ratified by Congress in 1970, claims immunity for itself, the DOJ argued in the letter that it applies only to the UN’s six main bodies but not to specialized agencies like UNRWA.
“The complaint in this case alleges atrocious conduct on the part of UNRWA and its officers,” the letter concluded. “Of course, such allegations are only the first step on a long road, where plaintiffs will be required to prove what they have alleged. But UNRWA is not above that process—nor are the bulk of the remaining defendants. The Government believes they must answer these allegations in American courts. The prior Administration’s view that they do not was wrong.”
In September, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amin, a UNRWA employee who was serving as the head of Hamas in Lebanon. Two weeks earlier, the IDF had attacked a Hamas command center housed in a school in central Gaza. Among those killed were three Hamas operatives who were employed by UNRWA.
UNRWA’s involvement also extended to the abductions. Israeli hostages who were rescued from Gaza reported being held by a UNRWA employee. Another UNRWA employee was filmed carrying the dead body of an Israeli before bringing it to Gaza on October 7th.
