{"id":120740,"date":"2025-04-26T17:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=120740"},"modified":"2025-04-26T14:16:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T12:16:40","slug":"26-00-106","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=120740","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration strips UNRWA of legal immunity in court filing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Trump administration strips UNRWA of legal immunity in court filing<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Mike Wagenheim<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The pronouncement could have major implications relating to a lawsuit filed by victims\u2019 families of the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

UNRWA offices in Jerusalem on the day that the U.N. agency was banned from operating in Israel, Jan. 30, 2025. Photo by Aron Leib Abrams\/Flash90.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has been stripped of its legal immunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision was taken as part of a case filed last year in which families of victims of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sued UNRWA for its ties to terrorism. Israel has said that at least 18 UNRWA staff members took part directly in the assault across the Gaza border into southern Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

The plaintiffs also allege long-term fraud and corruption in handling financial aid routed through UNRWA into the Gaza Strip\u2014$1 billion of which critics say has fallen into the hands of Hamas and other terror groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe complaint in this case alleges atrocious crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, and its factual allegations, taken as true, detail how UNRWA played a significant role in those heinous offenses,\u201d the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote to the U.S. district judge Analisa Torres.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, the government expressed the view that certain immunities shielded UNRWA from having to answer those allegations in American courts,\u201d per the filing. \u201cThe government has since re-evaluated that position and now concludes that UNRWA is not immune from this litigation. Nor are the bulk of other defendants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The claim by the U.S. attorney\u2019s office added that UNRWA is not legally considered an affiliated organ of the United Nations since it was formed and continues to hold its mandate as a result of a resolution by the U.N. General Assembly. The U.S. Justice Department said the General Assembly may have lacked the authority to create the agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration held that the United Nations and UNRWA were immune from the lawsuit.<\/span><\/p>\n

If found not to have immunity, UNRWA, its leaders and employees\u2014and perhaps the United Nations at large\u2014could be ordered to pay large compensation to victims and their families.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stripping diplomatic immunity from UNRWA might also call into question the future of U.N. headquarters in New York and could impact the Knesset\u2019s decision, effective this past January, to ban UNRWA from operating within Israeli territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The office of Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told JNS that \u201cwe have seen the letter filed by the U.S. Department of Justice with the court. We will review it carefully.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe position of the United Nations is longstanding and clear. UNRWA is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and, as such, is entitled to immunity from legal process under the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,\u201d the secretary-general\u2019s office added. (An UNRWA spokesperson sent JNS the same statement.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue is before the federal district court in New York, and through our counsel, we will continue to set out the basis for our position before the court,\u201d the secretary-general\u2019s office told JNS. \u201cWe will consider whether any other action is appropriate with respect to the letter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Trump administration strips UNRWA of legal immunity in court filing Mike Wagenheim The pronouncement could have major implications relating to a lawsuit filed by victims\u2019 families of the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. UNRWA offices in Jerusalem on the day that the U.N. agency was banned from operating in Israel, Jan. 30, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120740"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120748,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120740\/revisions\/120748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}