Biden DOJ files to grant immunity to UNRWA employees accused of working with Hamas on Oct. 7

Biden DOJ files to grant immunity to UNRWA employees accused of working with Hamas on Oct. 7

The United States Department of Justice along with the United Nations is filing an official document in a U.S. federal court arguing that UN employees who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis are immune from prosecution.

Israel has provided evidence that UNRWA workers committed such atrocities as murder, hostage-taking and even kidnapping the bodies of the dead and wounded. On September 26, UNRWA announced that they had terminated the contracts of a dozen employees who were accused of being involved in the massacre, promising that they would hold them accountable even through “criminal prosecution.”

 The U.N. Oversight Investigations Division confirmed that compelling evidence was presented against at least nine UNRWA workers, but no legal proceedings are pending against them. Israel claims many more UNRWA employees were complicit in the massacre. 

In the document submitted to the court, the U.N. claims the UNRWA employees who participated in the massacre have immunity: “Since the U.N. has not waived their immunity in this case, its subsidiary organization, UNRWA, continues to enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution, and the lawsuit should be dismissed.”

The lawsuit claiming immunity in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan relates, instead, to a lawsuit filed by several October 7 victims that sues UNRWA as well as seven of its commissioners-general, deputy commissioners-general, and a director for being complicit in enabling Hamas to build up the terrorist infrastructure. 

The lawsuit proves that UNRWA and its officials “actively participated in the diversion of funds earmarked to support the people of Gaza into channels that ensured those funds were used for terrorism,” Bijan Amini, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, told JNS in June.

Indeed, the U.N., its agencies, and officials enjoy immunity from “every form of legal process” under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, adopted in 1946. But it also states that the UN has “the right and the duty” to waive this immunity in some instances.

Attorney General Merrick Garland supported the UN’s claim that these officials have immunity.

“The plaintiffs’ complaint does not present a theory under which the United Nations waived its immunity,” the DOJ’s petition stated. “Therefore, since the U.N. has not waived their immunity in this case, its subsidiary organization, UNRWA, continues to enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution, and the lawsuit against the defendant UNRWA should be dismissed due to the lack of subject matter.”

After its incursion into Gaza, the IDF discovered terror tunnels underneath UNRWA headquarters. The lawsuit claims that UNRWA officials reasonably should have foreseen that their facilities would be used to attack Israel. Before the war, UNRWA was the largest employer in Gaza, employing an estimated 14,000 Gazans. It was estimated that 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza staff are active Hamas terrorists. 

After these revelations about UNRWA’s possible complicity, many nations suspended funding for the agency; however, most of these countries have restored this funding. The U.S. State Department announced that it wants to restore funding despite a U.S. law that prevents it from doing so until March 2025. 

In response to this lawsuit, UNRWA and the US Department of Justice are claiming that the UN should have immunity. The U.N. agencies and officials who are performing their functions do have immunity from prosecution. 

Hillel Neuer, head of UN Watch, has documented the connection between UNRWA officials and Hamas for many years. In his response to the immunity lawsuit, Neuer listed several examples:

• Ali Baraka is a Hamas leader in Lebanon and has been named by the Department of Justice for engaging in crimes against humanity. 
• Fathi al-Sharif is the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union and the principal of a UNRWA school in Lebanon. Neuer claims that there is evidence that he is heavily involved in supporting Hamas terrorism and is a Hamas official.
• Suheil al-Hindi, leader of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Gaza up until a few years ago, is an elected member of the Hamas Politburo 

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