US says UN refugee agency no longer immune from lawsuit
5 hours, 13 minutes ago
by ERIC TUCKER The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration has decided that the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is not immune from being sued, reversing the U.S. government's longstanding position that the organization was protected from civil liability.
The Justice Department revealed its new stance in a letter it filed in federal court in New York on Thursday as part of a lawsuit that aims to hold the agency, known as UNRWA, accountable for the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on Israel by Hamas. The change in position underscores the hardened perspective toward the agency under the Trump administration following accusations by Israel that some of the agency staff was involved in the Hamas rampage.
The lawsuit, filed by families of some of the victims of the massacre, claims that UNRWA had aided Hamas by, among other things, permitting weapons storage and deployment centers in its schools and medical clinics and by employing Hamas members.
https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2025/apr/27/us-says-un-refugee-agency-no-longer-immune-from/?news-national