WashingtonFor years, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency sent millions of dollars monthly to Gaza to pay employees and support hospitals, schools and other infrastructure, according to a new lawsuit.
The money was sent from New York, where the agency has an office, to the Gaza Strip, where financial institutions transferred some of the money in trucks that crossed Israel en route to Gaza.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal court in Manhattan, says some of those resources ended up financing the military operations of Hamas, the Islamic group that has controlled Gaza for nearly 20 years and is committed to eliminating the Jewish state.
The money trail is at the center of the case against seven current and former senior UNRWA officials who are accused of knowing that Hamas diverted more than $1 billion from the agency to pay for tunnel equipment and weapons that were used. in the attack on Israel on October 7.
About 100 Israeli plaintiffs — including at least one who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza and others who survived the attack, as well as the descendants of some who died — are seeking to be compensated for unspecified financial damages.
They claim that UNRWA is guilty because it helped finance Hamas, which the United States and other countries consider a terrorist organization.
UNRWA has been sued several times since the attack, with some cases alleging that the agency has been complicit with Hamas and others seeking to have funding to UNRWA eliminated.
The case filed Monday goes further, describing how the defendants believe the agency’s money ended up in the hands of Hamas and how terrorists used it to attack Israel.
The civil suit faces many obstacles, particularly the question of whether the treaty grants immunity to United Nations officials.
“Hamas could not carry out those atrocities without help,” the lawsuit says.
“He was helped by high-ranking agency officials who for more than a decade funded Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure.
#Hamas #billion #aid #weapons #tunnels