Survivors of Oct 7 Hamas massacre sue UNRWA for 'complicity' in 'breeding the evil' they suffered from

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Israeli survivors of the Hamas invasion and brutal massacre on Oct. 7 filed a lawsuit against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in a U.S. Federal Court on Monday, according to a press release.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 100 plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court, claims UNRWA coordinated a billion-dollar money laundering operation that funded the Hamas terrorist organization, thereby significantly reducing humanitarian aid to Gazans, and contributing to the brutal terror attack perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7.

The lawsuit specifically calls out the Southern District of New York, and names UNRWA and seven commissioner-generals, deputy commissioner-generals, and directors who allegedly oversaw the illegal schemes from New York.

One of the main attorneys in the lawsuit, Bijan Amini, claimed there is new evidence showing that UNRWA diverted funds intended for the benefit of Gazans for terrorist activities.

“The findings in this lawsuit demonstrate that UNRWA was aware of and actively participated in the diversion of funds earmarked to support the people of Gaza into channels that ensured those funds were used for terrorism and in violation of international law,” Amini stated.

“UNRWA's insistence that over a billion dollars in Gaza aid be distributed in US cash that locals could not spend without going through Hamas moneychangers is one of the most damning pieces of new evidence presented in this case.”

UNRWA's practice of distributing aid in U.S. dollars rather than the local currency is a unique method not typically used in other UN refugee programs. This approach forced Gazans to exchange currency with Hamas-controlled moneychangers, who allegedly charged anywhere from 10-20% fees for currency conversion. Furthermore, the plaintiffs claim that UNRWA spends nearly 10 times more on expenses and staffing compared to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

According to the press release, UNRWA fully knew that Hamas controlled all levels of its educational system.

“Hamas – a known terrorist organization whose charter claims peace would only be possible when Israel is destroyed – openly controlled 24 of 26 leadership positions in the UNRWA employee union. At least 10% of UNRWA employees were members of Hamas and over 100 were proven to have taken part in the October 7 attack,” the press release stated.

In addition, the UN agency for Palestinians allegedly continued publishing textbooks designed to indoctrinate children to hate Jews and commit jihad, the plaintiffs wrote.

“UNRWA continued to print textbooks with the UN seal that taught little children grammar by having them write, 'I will commit jihad to liberate the homeland' and 'nourish the homeland with [my] blood.'”

“The terrorist who held me hostage for 53 days worked as a schoolteacher for UNRWA. The fact that Hamas controlled Gaza was not an excuse for UNRWA to hire and fund terrorists, but instead should have ensured UNRWA took extra precautions. UNRWA knew it was hiring terrorists and that its funds and facilities were being used for violence, but UNRWA's complicity in paying and empowering terrorists to teach and radicalize a generation of Gaza's children was perhaps even more evil and tragic,” said Ditza Hieman, who was held hostage for 53 days.

The UNRWA organization has been under scrutiny by the international community since Oct. 7 for its practices and involvement with the Hamas terrorist organization.

In January, then-Israeli government spokesman, Eylon Levy, issued a call to disband UNRWA after revealing more damning evidence, including "hiring terrorists on a massive scale, letting its infrastructure be used for Hamas military activity, and relying on Hamas for aid distribution in the Gaza Strip.”

In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a UN delegation, "UNRWA officials were complicit in the massacre" by holding Israeli civilians as hostages.

An eyewitness to the Oct. 7 atrocities, only identified as TB, said that what the Palestinian terrorists did required extensive indoctrination of evil.

“The horrors I witnessed on October 7 are only possible through an extended and pervasive poisoning of the soul of a people. Humans are not capable of the scale and depth of cruelty on their own."

"UNRWA's complicity in October 7 goes far beyond providing the material means for Hamas to carry out this attack. UNRWA provided Hamas with a generation of children and the social controls necessary to breed the evil that I witnessed and so many suffered that day and since,” TB argued.