The family of Yonatan Samerano, 21, who was murdered during Hamas’s October 7 attack, has filed a lawsuit in the Jerusalem District Court against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), alleging the agency played a role in his abduction and death.
The lawsuit, submitted by attorneys Nitsana Darshan-Leitner and her legal team at Shurat HaDin on behalf of Samerano’s estate and immediate family, seeks NIS 25 million in punitive damages under Israel’s Compensation for Victims of Terrorism Law. It names UNRWA, a UNRWA employee alleged to have taken part in the attack, and several current and former senior UNRWA officials as defendants.
According to the filing, Samerano fled the Nova music festival near Re’im as Hamas terrorists stormed the area, killing hundreds. After reaching Kibbutz Be’eri, he was shot by terrorists at the entrance to the community.
The suit alleges that later that morning, a UNRWA employee, driving a vehicle belonging to the agency, arrived at the scene with another armed operative, placed Samerano’s body in the trunk of the UN-marked car, and transported it into Gaza. Samareno’s body was recovered by the IDF this past June in a military operation, and he was buried.
The filing identifies the alleged perpetrator as Faisal Ali Musallam al-Naami, whom they describe as a Hamas operative employed by UNRWA in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The plaintiffs say the alleged actions were not isolated, but part of what they describe as a long-standing and systemic entanglement between UNRWA and Hamas in Gaza.
The lawsuit claims that UNRWA employed hundreds, if not thousands, of Hamas operatives over the years, either knowingly or by turning a blind eye, and that agency facilities, vehicles, and resources were repeatedly used for terror-related activity.
In detailing its claims, the suit cites Israeli intelligence assessments and international reporting suggesting that approximately 10% of UNRWA’s workforce in Gaza were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while roughly half were close relatives of terror operatives.
It further alleges that dozens of UNRWA employees took part directly in the October 7 massacre, including kidnappings and the transport of hostages.
BEYOND FINANCIAL damages, the family is asking the court to issue an injunction compelling the defendants to provide information regarding Samerano’s remains and their location, as well as any internal investigations conducted by UNRWA concerning the events of October 7. A central legal argument in the filing challenges UNRWA’s claim to immunity as a UN agency.
UNRWA challenged on status as neutral humanitarian body
The suit alleges that UNRWA no longer functions as a neutral humanitarian body and therefore cannot benefit from the protections typically afforded under international convenAlso listed were UNRWA Commissioner-General
Philippe Lazzarini and other senior officials, whom the filing argues bear responsibility for the employment of operatives who took part in the attack.
tions governing UN operations.
The lawsuit comes amid growing legal and political scrutiny of UNRWA in Israel following the war in Gaza. Darshan-Leitner welcomed the evacuation of UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem, describing the move as “an act of justice for the victims of terror,” and arguing that Israel “has both the right and the duty to remove” the agency’s presence from the capital.
While the case could face significant legal and diplomatic hurdles, including questions over whether Israeli courts can hear civil claims against a UN agency, it marks the first attempt by Israeli victims’ families to hold UNRWA civilly liable in an Israeli court for alleged involvement in the October 7 massacre. The suit joins parallel civil proceedings against Hamas and affiliated actors, alongside hundreds of other victims.
UNRWA has previously denied institutional involvement in terrorist activity, stating that any employees implicated in violence acted independently and in violation of agency rules. As of publication, the agency had not issued a response to the lawsuit.
The Foreign Ministry, in a post on X, wrote that on October 7, “a UNRWA social worker abducted the body of Israeli civilian Yonatan Samerano,” adding that the incident “was not an isolated act.”
The ministry accused UNRWA of long having ceased to function as a humanitarian organization, instead serving as “a greenhouse for Hamas terrorism,” and alleged that UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 massacre and kidnappings, while the agency’s infrastructure was used for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad activity, including rocket fire and tunnel construction.
“This is not humanitarian work,” said the ministry. “This is terror infiltration, exposed in action.”