Overview

• Some 200 U.S. victims and family members of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act and JASTA.
• The complaint alleges UNRWA provided roughly 13% of Hamas’s annual budget and employed staff who personally participated in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
• In April, the U.S. Justice Department reversed its prior position and concluded that UNRWA is not covered by U.N. diplomatic immunity, enabling the case to proceed.
• UNRWA and its U.S. affiliate have labeled the lawsuit baseless and filed motions to dismiss, arguing they retain immunity as subsidiary organs of the United Nations.
• President Trump’s administration has declared UNRWA “irredeemably compromised” and is seeking its full dismantlement, raising concerns about the agency’s ability to deliver aid to Palestinian refugees.