Trump's DOJ says UN agency can be sued for Oct. 7 attacks, reversing Biden-era position

The Trump Justice Department has said that an agency under the United Nations can be sued in the United States over its alleged involvement with Hamas in the horrific Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel where nearly 1,200 people were slaughtered, including more than 30 Americans.

In a document filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday, the Justice Department said that the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine) is not entitled to immunity, opening the door to a potentially massive lawsuit.

Families of more than 100 victims of the Hamas-led terror attack are claiming $1 billion in damages from UNRWA, asserting that the UN agency aided and abetted the terror group’s attack. The UNRWA coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza and is considered an affiliate of the UN, but it operates independently.

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The lawsuit, which was filed last June in the Southern District of New York, alleges that UNRWA helped Hamas build up the terror infrastructure and personnel that were necessary to carry out the attacks, including by "knowingly providing Hamas with the U.S. dollars in cash that it needed to pay smugglers for weapons, explosives, and other terror material."

Over $1 billion from UNRWA’s New York bank account in Manhattan was involved in allegedly benefiting the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas, the lawsuit noted. The lawsuit also accuses the agency of allowing tunnels and command centers to be built under its sites.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, was named as one of the defendants. 

The Justice Department said Thursday that under the law, UNRWA is not considered part of the United Nations core structure, like its principal or subsidiary organs, and is seen as more similar to a "specialized agency" which the U.S. never agreed to grant full immunity under international treaties​.

Therefore, UNRWA does not qualify for diplomatic immunity under U.S. law, and must answer the lawsuit.

"The complaint in this case alleges atrocious conduct on the part of UNRWA and its officers," the April 24 document reads.

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"Of course, such allegations are only the first step on a long road, where plaintiffs will be required to prove what they have alleged. The government believes they must answer these allegations in American courts. The prior administration’s view that they do not was wrong."

It marks a drastic reversal from the Biden-era Justice Department’s stance in October where it argued that UNRWA was protected by international legal immunity as part of the broader United Nations system.

The Justice Department move comes weeks after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced legislation that would allow American victims of terror groups to hold the organizations that fund those groups accountable in a court of law. It would specifically strip immunity from UNRWA and allow American victims of terrorism, like those attacked on Oct. 7, to sue UNRWA and its workers in U.S. courts.

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The bill essentially reintroduced the Limiting Immunity for Assisting Backers of Lethal Extremism (LIABLE) Act, which is similar to a bill he introduced during the last Congress.

The Justice Department’s new position makes the core goal of Cruz’s LIABLE Act partly achieved without legislation, although the LIABLE Act would permanently codify this no-immunity stance into law.

After revelations about UNRWA workers participating in the Oct. 7 slaughter, the U.S. suspended its aid to UNRWA. Before the suspension, the U.S. was the largest single donor to UNRWA.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.