The United States says UN Palestinian refugee agency cannot be exempted from litigation on a long-term standpoint
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has decided that the UN Palestinian refugee agency cannot be exempted from prosecution, reversing the long-term position of the U.S. government that the organization is exempt from civil liability.
The Justice Department revealed its new position in a letter filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday, part of a lawsuit aimed at putting the agency, known as UNRWA, responsible for the deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The change in position highlights the Trump administration’s strong point of view on institutions after Israel accused some agency staff of involvement in Hamas’ rampage.
The lawsuit filed by families of some victims of the Holocaust alleges that the Neutral Administration allowed weapons storage and deployment centers to help HAMAS in its schools and medical clinics and the employment of Hamas members. Lawyers at the recent level called the lawsuit “absurd” and said in court documents that the agency was not exempted from liability for the United Nations “subsidiaries”.
Previous U.S. stance protects agency
UNFA spokesman Juliet Touma said in a statement Friday that the Justice Department’s lawsuit reversed the “long-term awareness that the Near East Rescue Nations is a subsidiary of the General Assembly and an integral part of the United Nations, with the right to be exempted from legal proceedings.” She said the agency will continue to file lawsuits in court and “consider whether there are other lawsuits on the letter.”
The Justice Department acknowledged in its 10-page letter that despite its position being a temporary physician exemption from litigation, “the government has since reevaluated that position and now concludes that Near-East relief workers are not immune in this lawsuit.”
“In this case, the complaints allege that UNRWB and its officials are struggling. Of course, these allegations are just the first step on a long road, where plaintiffs will be required to prove what they are alleging. However, North Apartments does not exceed the procedure – and the rest of the defendants are not the majority,” the letter said. “The government believes they must answer these charges in the U.S. court. The previous government thought they were not wrong. ”
The letter was signed by Jay Clayton, the new U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and another attorney in the office, as well as Yaakov Roth, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Department of Justice’s civil division.
The agency has assisted Palestinians since the 1940s
The United Nations General Assembly was established in 1949 to provide relief to Palestinians who were fled or expelled from their location before and during the Arab-Israel War of 1948, which was established in Israel, as well as their descendants, until a political solution to Israel-Peristian Parestian.
The agency provides assistance and services to approximately 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and 3 million in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. It has been the main lifeline of the population relying on humanitarian aid in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas War.
Israel claims that in the UNRWC, about 13,000 employees in Gaza participated in Hamas’ attacks in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and starting the war in Gaza.
Federal hospitals said the conclusions reached by the investigation within the United Nations were that although the evidence was not certified or confirmed. Israel later claimed that about 100 other Palestinians in Gaza were Hamas members, but never provided any evidence to the United Nations.
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Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri contributed to the report.
