Hamas leader in Lebanon ‘worked undercover as a teacher for UN refugee agency’ before killed in Israeli airstrike

It has been revealed that the leader of Hamas in Lebanon worked for the UN refugee agency before he was killed in an Israeli attack.

Fateh Sherif Abu al-Amin was killed yesterday in the Al-Buss refugee camp in Tire, southern Lebanon, as a result of an attack by the Israeli Air Force yesterday.

The group reported that al-Amin was killed along with his wife, son and daughter in the so-called “terrorist and criminal attack”.

However, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, confirmed today that Sherif was hired as a teacher, prompting Israel to make new accusations of ties to Palestinian militant groups.

UNRWA said it had placed a Hamas commander on “administrative leave without pay” in March amid an investigation into allegations regarding his political activities, stressing that it was committed to neutrality and was working to prevent any such infiltration.

He’s coming for UNRWA admitted in August that nine of its employees “may have been involved” in the October 7 Hamas attack.

In a statement confirming his death, the IDF said that Sherif “led the efforts of the Hamas terrorist organization to build up forces in Lebanon and worked to advance Hamas’ interests in Lebanon, both politically and militarily.”

However, he was also listed as principal of the UNRWA Deir Yassin school and president of the distinguished teachers’ union before he was suspended in March.

His role as a teacher at the UN school is sure to lead to even more criticism of UNRWA from Israel, which had some of its funding stripped from Israel’s allies after Tel Aviv alleged that UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks.

In August, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) concluded an investigation into the alleged involvement of 19 UNRWA employees in the attacks.

“OIOS has made findings in respect of each of the 19 UNRWA employees alleged to have participated in the attacks,” he said.

He added: “In one case, OIOS did not obtain any evidence to support allegations of employee involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support employee involvement.

“We have enough information to take the action that we are taking, which is to eliminate these nine people.”

All nine people the investigation concluded may have played a role in the October 7 attacks were men.

A U.N. spokesman did not provide details of what they may have done, but said: “For us, any involvement in the attacks is a terrible betrayal of the kind of work we should be doing on behalf of the Palestinian people.”

The United Nations launched an investigation after Israel accused UNRWA staff of involvement in the October 7 Hamas-led attacks that sparked the Gaza war.

In March, Israel intensified its accusations, alleging that more than 450 UNRWA employees were military agents in terrorist groups in Gaza.

UNRWA employs approximately 32,000 people throughout its area of ​​operation, of which 13,000 are in Gaza.

UNWRA reported in March that some workers released to Gaza from Israeli custody reported that they were under pressure from Israeli authorities and that the workers took part in the October 7 attacks.