Trump administration calls for dismantling of UNRWA amid US lawsuit

The Trump administration has declared the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) “irredeemably compromised” and is seeking its full dismantlement, as the agency faces a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., accusing it of supporting terrorism.

“We can confirm the Administration has determined UNRWA is irredeemably compromised and now seeks its full dismantlement,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, Caliber.Az reports. 

Filed last week by 200 US citizens who are victims and family members of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks, the lawsuit targets UNRWA and its US-based affiliate, UNRWA USA. The plaintiffs allege the agency violated antiterrorism laws by allegedly providing funds and other support to Hamas and Hezbollah—both designated by the US State Department as foreign terrorist organisations—and employing individuals directly involved in attacks.

“Both UNRWA and UNRWA USA’s missions are legal, moral, and humanitarian,” the agency said in a press release, calling the allegations “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.” It accused critics of spreading “misinformation to dismantle a life-saving institution.”

The case marks a shift in the Justice Department’s position. While the Biden administration argued that UNRWA was immune from civil liability as a US subsidiary, the Trump administration reversed that stance in April, telling the court the prior view was “wrong.”

“Previously, the Government expressed the view that certain immunities shielded UNRWA from having to answer those allegations in American courts. The Government has since reevaluated that position, and now concludes UNRWA is not immune from this litigation,” the Justice Department wrote to the judge.

Plaintiffs’ counsel Samuel Silverman called the reversal “a real step in the right direction,” adding, “This lawsuit is sort of going to be novel, as we’ve seen by the two positions that the Justice Department has taken.”

A similar lawsuit was filed in New York last year by noncitizen victims and their families, accusing UNRWA of aiding Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.

Founded in 1949 as a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly, UNRWA is the largest UN agency operating in Gaza.

In a report released on August 1, the agency said food parcels had run out “several weeks ago” and that “no UNRWA supplies entered the Gaza Strip” since March.

By Sabina Mammadli