American Oct. 7 victims sue UNRWA over Hamas, Hezbollah support

A new lawsuit charges that UNRWA allowed its facilities in Gaza, Lebanon to be exploited by terror groups for deadly attacks against Israeli civilians.

By World Israel News Staff

American victims of terror attacks in Israel, including the October 7 Hamas massacres, have filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court aiming to hold UNRWA accountable for its role in supporting terrorism.

Survivors and family members of U.S. citizens killed in Hamas and Hezbollah attacks dating back to 2015 are attempting to hold the UN-created agency legally responsible for facilitating attacks on Jews and Israelis.

The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA in Gaza has been completely infiltrated by the Hamas terror group.

Because UNRWA receives funding from the U.S. government, the suit argues that American taxpayer money is being funneled into programs that promote Hamas terrorist activity.

“The funds from the U.S. are allocated by UNRWA ostensibly to its programs, including education, which is a material source of support for Hamas, as Hamas uses UNRWA schools as terror bases, and includes among its membership UNRWA-compensated staff who recruit, indoctrinate, incentivize, reward and train future Hamas members and martyrs from among the UNRWA student population,” reads the lawsuit.

Despite being aware that Hamas was using UNRWA premises for terror purposes, UNRWA consistently insisted to Israel that its facilities were off-limits, the lawsuit stated.

UNRWA effectively turned its sites into “safe havens for terrorists,” preventing Israel from targeting Hamas’s terror infrastructure both before and during the October 7th attack.

Hamas terror assets , including rocket launchers, were placed so close to UNRWA property that Israeli forces could not strike it without risking damage to UNRWA facilities and harm to children and other noncombatants present in its schools and buildings, thus “enabling Hamas’ use of human shields on UNWRA premises.”

In Lebanon, UNRWA provided “Hezbollah access to, and safe harbor in UNRWA-owned-and-funded facilities, including (but not limited to) schools to be used for weapons storage, command and control operations, and planning/staging areas for terrorist attacks,” charged the plaintiffs.

A previous lawsuit filed against UNRWA was stalled after the Biden administration agreed with UNRWA’s claim that it enjoys diplomatic immunity from lawsuits of this nature.

However, the Trump administration publicly challenged that stance, paving the way for lawsuits that could secure punitive damages from UNRWA.