UNRWA chief: We dispute key claim in lawsuit by October 7 victims

Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the UN’s “Palestinian refugees” agency, told JNS the agency disputes a key section of a civil lawsuit filed against it by victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre.

The lawsuit, filed on June 24 in New York federal court, alleges in part that UNRWA helped funnel millions of dollars each month to Hamas by insisting on a policy the plaintiffs say applies only in Gaza: the payment of employee salaries and other expenses in US dollars, rather in the local currency of Israeli shekels.

The suit alleges that the scheme forces UNRWA employees to turn to Hamas and Hamas-affiliated money changers to exchange dollars for shekels, thereby providing the terrorist organization with significant funds through exchange fees.

At a press briefing on Friday in New York, Lazzarini disputed the assertion, saying the payment in dollars applies not only in Gaza.

“We pay salaries in dollars in Lebanon, and we pay also our staff in Syria on a dollar basis, like we do in Gaza,” said Lazzarini in response to a JNS inquiry in the briefing. He did not specify whether or not the policy applied to UNRWA staff serving Palestinian Arabs in Jordan or Judea and Samaria, or Arabs in Jerusalem.

Lazzarini said he believed—and his staff later confirmed to JNS—that cash assistance to Gazans is paid in shekels.

UNRWA has come under fire over allegations of cooperation with Hamas. Israel said in January that 12 UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks. In the weeks that followed, numerous donor states suspended or paused some $450 million in funding to UNRWA.

Some of those countries, including Germany, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Norway and Austria, have since resumed funding to the agency.

Israel said that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively taking part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.

After Israel presented the accusations against the UNRWA staff, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the creation of a review group, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to look into the Israeli allegations.

The group recently released its report which found neutrality-related issues" in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations.