Israeli Attorney Warns UNRWA Is Hamas in Explosive Oct. 7 Lawsuit

A lawsuit brought by the family of a victim of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has become a focal point in the wider debate over the agency’s future in Gaza.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israeli civil rights attorney and president of the Shurat HaDin Law Center, told News Media that she filed the case in Jerusalem District Court on behalf of the family of 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano. He was killed outside Kibbutz Be’eri after escaping the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. His remains were returned to his family after 625 days in captivity, during the final phase of hostage releases, Darshan-Leitner said.

Darshan-Leitner alleges that after terrorists shot Samerano, UNRWA workers collected his body, placed it in an agency vehicle and transported it to Gaza. “Although the kidnapping was by UNRWA’s workers, UNRWA never revealed the place of the body, never cooperated with Israeli authorities to tell them where Yonatan Samerano was held and never admitted that it was done by its workers,” she said. “And therefore we decided to sue UNRWA on behalf of the family.”

The case faces a major legal hurdle: UNRWA’s diplomatic immunity under the U.N. Charter and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. Darshan-Leitner argued that the charter “specifically prohibits any act of violence, let alone terrorism.” Because she alleges UNRWA aided and abetted terrorist organizations and took part in terrorism, she said, the agency should no longer be protected by treaty-based immunity.

The Israeli Knesset passed legislation in December removing UNRWA’s diplomatic immunity and clearing the way for the Israeli government to expropriate agency properties in East Jerusalem.

Citing UNRWA’s loss of immunity, the Samerano family is seeking NIS 24 million—nearly $8 million—in punitive damages under Israel’s Compensation for Victims of Terrorism Law. Darshan-Leitner said that when the deadline for UNRWA to submit its defense passed last week, the agency requested a 45-day extension.

UNRWA did not respond to requests for comment on its immunity or on the litigation filed by Samerano’s family.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told News Media that Guterres has repeatedly said the Knesset law and its amendments conflict with the legal framework governing UNRWA. “The source of UNRWA’s immunities is vested in the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which remain applicable,” Dujarric said.

Guterres has also made clear that any UNRWA personnel shown to have participated in the Oct. 7 attack must face accountability, Dujarric said. “Whenever we have been given information by the Israeli government on such individuals, we have acted,” he added.

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UNRWA’s place in Gaza’s future has faced growing scrutiny in recent months. The USAID Office of Inspector General and NGO Watch have continued to report evidence of Hamas infiltration within the agency, while Finland, Sweden and the United States have fully halted funding to UNRWA.

The Board of Peace, which is responsible for Gaza’s reconstruction, has said UNRWA will not have a role in the Strip’s future.

However, The Associated Press reported on Sept. 25 that members of the Board of Peace may be more willing to work with the U.N. agency than public statements have suggested. The report quoted a Board of Peace official who confirmed that members had met with UNRWA officials several times.

The Board of Peace shot back on X, saying that its “policy as it relates to UNRWA’s involvement in Gaza is unchanged. We will only work with trusted partners who will deliver for the people of Gaza and contribute to a deradicalized Strip. UNRWA fails on those litmus tests.”

A U.S. official told News Media that evidence continues to show UNRWA has become “a vehicle for instability, violence and radicalization” and should have no role in Gaza’s future humanitarian operations. The official said capable service providers already operating in Gaza could deliver essential goods and services after extensive vetting and background checks, potentially working with credible nongovernmental organizations, other U.N. agencies or the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. “Following an orderly wind-down, UNRWA itself will neither be essential nor necessary to accomplishing the work that lies ahead in Gaza,” the official said.

Guterres, meanwhile, continues to support the agency. In remarks he delivered at the Sept. 24 Ministerial Meeting on UNRWA, the U.N. secretary-general described the agency as “a critical stabilizing presence.”

“For years now, UNRWA has been forced to operate under extraordinary pressure. I have repeatedly condemned in the strongest terms the appalling attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, UNRWA’s personnel in Gaza have endured terrible loss and hardship. Nearly 400 members of its workforce have been killed. Hundreds of its premises remain inaccessible, severely damaged, or utterly destroyed,” Guterres said.

Guterres also said that “a ceaseless political campaign has tried to manipulate public perceptions, undermine UNRWA’s ability to operate, and deny the rights of Palestine refugees.” He called on U.N. Member States to “take immediate action” to politically and financially support the organization and protect its mandate.

Darshan-Leitner said that allowing UNRWA to continue operations inside Gaza would be problematic. “UNRWA indoctrinated [Palestinian refugees] and let the terror organizations infiltrate their schools and education facilities.” She added that UNRWA facilities “served Hamas as bases, as launchers, as missile storage places,” which both “risk the life of the citizens in Gaza,” and ensure that there will be collateral damage if Israel retaliates against attacks.

“If the Board of Peace wants to re-educate the people to get rid of the terrorist system, to separate between the terrorists and the citizens of Gaza, it cannot do it when UNRWA is around because UNRWA is embedded in Hamas…UNRWA is Hamas. So letting UNRWA take care of the humanitarian needs of the population in Gaza is a fatal mistake,” Darshan-Leitner said.