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

The Trump Justice Department has commented that an agency under the United Nations can be sued in the United States over its alleged involvement with Hamas in the horrific Oct attacks in Israel where nearly people were slaughtered including more than Americans In a document filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday the Justice Department revealed 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 sufferers of the Hamas-led terror attack are claiming 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 CASUALTIES OF OCTOBER MASSACRE FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST UNRWA FOR AIDING HAMAS TERRORISTSThe 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 coyotes for weapons explosives and other terror material Over 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 announced 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 incident alleges atrocious conduct on the part of UNRWA and its officers the April document reads UN HUMAN RIGHTS MEDIA GROUPS RELY ON HAMAS DEATH TOLL IN 'SYSTEMATIC DECEPTION' EXPERT Of lesson such statements are only the first step on a long road where plaintiffs will be required to prove what they have alleged The cabinet believes they must answer these accusations 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 law that would allow American casualties 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 casualties of terrorism like those attacked on Oct to sue UNRWA and its workers in U S courts CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPThe 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 rule although the LIABLE Act would permanently codify this no-immunity stance into law After revelations about UNRWA workers participating in the Oct 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 assessment