(The Center Square) – U.S. Republican senators led by Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have introduced a bill to strip international organizations’ immunity from lawsuits that provide material support to designated terror groups that commit violent acts against Americans.

The Limiting Immunity for Assisting Backers of Lethal Extremism (LIABLE) Act would allow American victims of terrorism to sue international organizations that provide resources to terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. It would amend title 28 of U.S. Code to state that international organizations do not have immunity in U.S. courts in certain cases related to terrorism under the International Organization Immunity Act (IOIA) “in which money damages are sought against an international organization for personal injury or death that was caused by an act of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources for such an act if such act or provision of material support or resources is engaged in by an official, employee, or agent of such international organization while acting within the scope of his or her office, employment, or agency,” according to the bill language.

The bill would authorize U.S. courts to hear cases filed against international organizations that conspired with or materially supported groups designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. American victims include all U.S. citizens, including members of the U.S. military, government employees and contractors. It also would allow U.S. victims and their family members to sue within a 20-year timeframe of when the terrorist act occurred.

Cruz highlights the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as an international organization that could be sued if his bill became law. UNRWA received hundreds of millions of dollars from the Biden administration that was “poured into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip,” he said. “That process would normally constitute material support for terrorism, because the assistance directly and indirectly benefits Hamas – a known terrorist group. And yet, the Biden administration granted waivers among other legislative measures to circumvent the law and enable UNRWA to support Hamas.”

Under the first Trump administration, the U.S. stopped all federal funding to UNRWA in 2018. President Donald Trump also signed a bill into law prohibiting U.S. funds from benefitting the Palestinian Authority unless it terminates its prisoner and martyr fund.

Former President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s first-term policy and funneled at least $1 billion to UNRWA, a coalition of 26 state attorneys general argued when they called on Congress to stop funding UNRWA, The Center Square reported. Congress kept funding it, as it kept funding taxpayer-funded programs that were used by alleged terrorists released into the U.S. by the Biden administration, according to a recent DOGE report.

A Texas congressman also sued the Biden administration alleging it sent more than $6.3 billion to the Palestinian Authority, which funds terrorism, before the Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel ever occurred, The Center Square reported.

While some UNRWA officials have denied agency support of terrorism, Cruz and other Republicans argue UNRWA officials for decades have “knowingly provided support to Hamas terrorists, including salaries and materials,” which helped facilitate the Oct. 7 attack. The attack “was the worst one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and included the murder and kidnapping of dozens of Americans. Those victims and their families deserve the ability to hold UNRWA accountable, and the LIABLE Act would give them that opportunity,” Cruz said.

Months after the Oct. 7 attack, intelligence reports revealed that Hamas was still operating underneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. Large quantities of weapons, rifles, ammunition, grenades and explosives were found in UNRWA offices, as well as a 700-meter long and 18-meter deep tunnel below it, according to several reports, The Center Square reported.

Last year, Cruz and several Republicans called on former Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a criminal investigation into UNRWA.

“The Biden administration has also channeled hundreds of billions of dollars into the Gaza Strip largely through UNRWA. … Israeli officials have presented detailed evidence credibly alleging that 190 UNRWA staff are ‘hardened fighters, killers,’ and that roughly 10% of UNRWA staff – 1,200 personnel – are affiliated with terrorist groups,” they wrote Garland, who ignored their request.

Under the Biden administration, Islamic terrorist incidents increased in the U.S. and worldwide, according to several reports, and a majority of Americans polled said terrorism dangers increased under his watch, The Center Square reported.

Cruz’s bill has several Republican cosponsors. It’s unclear if it will gain enough support from Senate Democrats to pass.