In Brief:

• Amini LLC has been engaged as trial counsel in a legal action against defendants, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and several of its current and former senior leaders, currently underway before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

• The case asserts that the acts committed by Hamas, with UNRWA’s and the individual defendants’ assistance, constitute torts under international law as well as violating the Torture Victims Protection Act.

• The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA and its leadership knowingly misdirected over $1 billion to Hamas, a terrorist organization as designated by the United States and other countries, in violation of the law.

• The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a letter arguing that defendants UNRWA and the individual defendants are entitled to immunity under the treaty known as the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

• Amini LLC is challenging this position on behalf of our clients, arguing that UNRWA and the individual defendants are not entitled to immunity for the acts alleged.

• Several prominent organizations & individuals filed friends of the court briefs.
• UNRWA and Individual Defendants filed a Memorandum of Law in support of their Motion to Dismiss, challenging the court's jurisdiction and service of process, and asserting entitlement to immunity under the CPIUN and IOIA.
• Amini LLC filed a Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, arguing that immunity under the CPIUN and IOIA protect only the UN itself, and does not shield UNRWA or the Individual Defendants from accountability for aiding and abetting terrorism.
• Amini LLC filed a pre-motion letter seeking authorization for alternative service on the remaining overseas defendants, as UNRWA and the U.S.-based defendants had already been served. The letter highlights the impracticality of using The Hague Convention or traditional methods for service, given the defendants’ locations, and requests alternative service via their New York-based counsel.
• Defendants filed a Reply Memorandum in support of their Motion to Dismiss, reaffirming claims of diplomatic immunity and inviolability under the CPIUN and VCDR, including immunity from service of process.
• Defendants request the Court deny Amini LLC’s request for alternative service, arguing that Plaintiffs should be required to follow the traditional service methods outlined in the Hague Convention and other applicable procedures.

For more information or inquiries, please contact marketing@aminillc.com.