Over 100 Israelis sued a United Nations organization Monday, alleging that it aided and abetted Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel.
The 167-page lawsuit alleges that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) “knowingly provided material support to Hamas in Gaza,” according to a copy obtained by FOX Business. The suit alleges that UNRWA allowed Hamas to use UNRWA facilities — including schools — for facilitating military and terrorist activity. The victims — represented by the law offices of MM-Law LLC of Chicago and Amini LLC of New York City — filed the suit in the Southern District of New York, according to FOX Business.
The victims also allege in the lawsuit that Hamas’ weaponry mounted so close to UNRWA property made striking the Hamas targets difficult due to the potential risk to children and other civilians in UNRWA schools and other buildings. Thus, Hamas allegedly gained military capability for the Oct. 7 attack.
UNRWA permitted Hamas to “indoctrinate” UNRWA school students into “a death-cult ideology of hatred and genocide, predictably producing the next generation of Hamas recruits willing to commit terrorist acts,” the lawsuit further alleges.
UNRWA had Hamas-affiliated employees — including schoolteachers — many of whom perpetrated the terror attack or aided terrorist activity in the aftermath, the victims alleged. UNRWA also allegedly paid its employees in hard U.S. currency, which they then allegedly exchanged for Israeli shekels via “Hamas-affiliated moneychangers.”
The defendants — including UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini and Commissioner Filippo Grandi of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — allegedly disbursed over $1 billion in donations via UNRWA’s Manhattan bank account to Hamas’ benefit over at least a decade despite warnings, according to the lawsuit. (RELATED: Lawsuit Alleges Pro-Palestinian Groups Behind Campus Protests Collaborate With Hamas)
Scoop: Families of victims of October 7th Attack File Lawsuit Against United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Discussing with member of legal team on @foxandfriends pic.twitter.com/NJ6jXzM3wK— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) June 24, 2024
The victims — acknowledging in the lawsuit that some of UNRWA’s activities were legitimate — were not “seeking a forum to air political grievances” but “monetary compensation for their injuries,” the lawsuit stated.
“We expect damages will be substantial,” Avery Samet — one of the victims’ lawyers — told Reuters.
Israel had similarly alleged that some UNRWA workers were directly involved in the terror attack. Some countries, including the U.S., paused funding to the beleaguered UN organization.
Former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman and several ex-officials and experts demanded that Congress permanently end funding for UNRWA. By contrast, several Democrat-led lawmakers called for UNRWA’s “full funding.”
Martin Griffiths, the UN‘s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said Hamas was “not a terrorist group for us” but “a political movement,” prompting Israel to denounce the UN as “an abomination.”
Lazzarini in a May 30 New York Times op-ed accused Israel of launching “outrageous attacks” including torture and mistreatment against UNRWA and its staff in the wake of Hamas’ terror attack.
Israel and the U.S. reportedly believe Hamas’ multimillion-dollar business assets stashed years ago across the Middle East and North Africa helped fund the terror attack.
