US citizens who are victims of Hamas and Hezbollah terror attacks and their family members filed a lawsuit against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East this past week.
The lawsuit, filed in a district court in Washington, accused UNRWA of violating anti-terrorism laws, saying that they are providing funds and supporting in other ways Hamas and Hezbollah, which, according to the State Department, are classified as foreign terrorist organizations.
The 200 plaintiffs also accuse UNRWA of employing staff who have direct ties to these terror groups and are directly involved in terror attacks.
In a press release, UNRWA USA slammed the accusations, describing them as a “baseless” lawsuit against the organization, accusing its opponents of waging a coordinated campaign to dismantle humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees.
It said that more than 150,000 donors across the US have funded programs to support UNRWA, which provides food, medical care, education, and trauma support to communities in Gaza, the West Bank, and east Jerusalem.
In its statement, UNRWA USA said Gaza is facing “mass, deliberate, and forced starvation.”
The organization linked the lawsuit to a broader effort of “misinformation and lawfare” intended to undermine UNRWA’s operations. Similar allegations have been investigated previously, UNRWA USA said, citing reviews by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and an independent panel led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, both of which affirmed the agency’s neutrality safeguards.
The statement also criticized the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, described as a US- and Israeli-backed alternative to UNRWA. It cited testimony from former GHF contractor Anthony Aguilar, who alleged that more than 1,400 Palestinians were shot and killed while trying to obtain food through the foundation’s operations.
Calling the lawsuit “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible,” UNRWA USA said it will continue its work despite legal pressure.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement concluded, thanking supporters for standing “in this urgent fight for life.”
UNRWA employees working in UNRWA schools been identified as Hamas, PIJ members
In December 2024, The New York Times reported that 24 UNRWA employees working in many different schools belonging to the organization in the Gaza Strip have been identified as Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members, citing a Hamas document provided by the Israeli government.
According to the confidential document, most of these UNRWA employees served in Hamas’s military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades. Additionally, a majority held important roles in UNRWA schools, serving as principals or deputy principals.
According to the NYT, some of the UN agency’s employees remained in their positions even after Israel warned the organization of their terrorist activities. Similarly, it did not fire Hamas terrorists after tunnels were uncovered within or near its schools.
Israel has said that UNRWA staff were employed by Hamas and were involved in the kidnapping of Israelis during the October 7 massacre perpetrated by the terrorist group in southern Israel.
Also in December 2024, the Israel Air Force struck Hamas terrorists operating in a command and control center embedded in what had previously been the UNRWA “Sheikh Jamil School” in Khan Yunis.
The school, also dubbed the “Ahmed Abdul Aziz School,” was located within the Khan Yunis Humanitarian Zone in southern Gaza, the IDF said.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.