First appearance on Fox: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced this week that international organizations (IOs) like UNRWA (the United Nations Refugee Agency for Palestinians, which has recently come under intense scrutiny for alleged ties to Hamas) will be removed from U.S. jurisdiction. We plan to submit a bill to make it clear that there is no exemption. Courts in certain terrorism-related cases.
The bill, entitled the Limitation of Immunity for Supporting Lethal Extremist Support (LIABLE) Act, would allow IO agents to engage in torture or extrajudicial killings that result in personal injury or death. IOs will not be exempt from US jurisdiction with respect to claims for monetary damages. sabotage of aircraft, taking hostages, or providing material support or resources for such acts while acting within the scope of employment;
The measure further provides that U.S. courts will hear claims where an IO colluded with, materially aided, or otherwise aided and abetted a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). and, at the time of such action, Complainant was a United States citizen, a member of the United States Armed Forces, a United States Government employee, or an individual performing a contract entered into by the United States Government. or the IO is “based in or has a substantial presence in the United States.”
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is expected to introduce a bill this week that would make it clear that international organizations like UNRWA are not exempt from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts in certain terrorism-related cases. (Getty Images)
Cruz’s introduction of the measure comes after UNRWA, which was established by the United Nations in 1949, faced a backlash earlier this year over its alleged ties to Hamas. Critics of the U.N. agency have long argued that it promotes anti-Israel policies in the regions where it operates.
The relationship between UNRWA and Hamas has come into close focus. Provided by Israel The Biden administration has submitted new documents containing information about how about a dozen government employees allegedly aided or assisted in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel.
“UNRWA has knowingly provided salaries and supplies to Hamas for decades. With its support, Hamas armed itself, built a vast underground terrorist infrastructure, and launched the terrorist atrocities of October 7th. “We were able to do that,” Cruz told FOX News Digital. “That attack included the murder and kidnapping of dozens of Americans.”
He added: “Victims and their families have the right to hold UNRWA accountable for its support of Hamas and for what happened on October 7th. The Accountability Act will give them that opportunity.” .
Mr. Cruz will be joined by Sens. Mike Braun of Indiana, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Eric Schmidt of Missouri, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rick Scott of Florida, Seven original Republican co-sponsors joined in introducing the bill, including Sens. Steve Daines and John Barrasso of Montana. of Wyoming.
Since the 1940s, the International Organization Immunities Act of 1945 has granted international organizations some of the same privileges and immunities that are granted to foreign governments, including immunity from litigation in U.S. courts. It was. At the time of the IOIA’s enactment, courts looked to the State Department in determining which lawsuits foreign governments should be immune from.
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A man walks in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency building in Gaza City on January 30, 2023. (Ali Jadala/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The State Department held a broad view of foreign immunity at the time, before adopting a more limited view that immunity was available only with respect to sovereign acts and not with respect to commercial conduct. Congress codified its more restrictive views in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA), which provides several exceptions to sovereign immunity.
The FSIA includes two terrorism-based exceptions to foreign sovereign immunity in U.S. courts. The first exception, Section 1605A, imposes legal liability on foreign governments for acts of violence that result in “personal injury or death” only if the foreign government is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism (SST). The second terrorism-based exception, Section 1605B, makes foreign governments subject to action only for actions that cause injury “within the United States.”
Because the FSIA’s terrorism-based exception is not designed to apply to IOs, the legal liability that organizations such as UNRWA have in the United States for supporting terrorism is similar to the laws foreign governments face for similar acts. lower than the actual responsibility. The FSIA’s 1605A exception relies on the SST designation, which does not apply to non-state actors such as UNRWA, and the 1605B exception only covers acts committed within the United States, and Hamas’ actions in Israel fall under this exception. Not applicable for purpose.
Since October, the Biden administration has transferred approximately $121 million in taxpayer funds to UNRWA. The remaining $300,000 allocated for this fiscal year was expected to be delivered to the agency early this year. But the United States froze those funds because some UNRWA members were suspected of participating in the October 7 terrorist attacks, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
In addition to the United States suspending “additional” funding to UNRWA in response to this document, other countries followed suit. Germany, Italy, Australia, Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland have also joined the boycott in response to the accusations, and several staff members have already been fired.
UNRWA workers pack medical aid supplies and prepare them for distribution to hospitals at a warehouse in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, October 25, 2023. (Majidi Fatih/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Just under $4 billion in taxpayer dollars went to humanitarian relief organizations from 2009 to 2024, according to a Fox News Digital review published last month.
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Despite the suspicions The Biden administration defended UNRWA argued that the agency as a whole should not be judged by the alleged actions of around 12 people.
“We are very supportive of UNRWA’s work and think it is important,” Miller said earlier this year. “No other humanitarian aid provider in Gaza can provide food and medicine on the scale that UNRWA can.”
